MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Post lockdown Mediterranean cruise vessel docks in Greece with coronavirus cases

The Maltese-flagged Mein Schiff 6, operated by German travel giant TUI, is carrying 922 passengers and 666 crew

The first cruise ship to sail to Greece since the coronavirus lockdown docked at the port of Piraeus early on Tuesday after a dozen crew members were reported positive for the virus, state news agency ANA said.

The Maltese-flagged Mein Schiff 6, operated by German travel giant TUI, is carrying 922 passengers and 666 crew .

Nobody will be allowed to disembark as testers from Greece's public health agency embarked for inspection. The Greek coastguard said on Monday that 12 crew members had tested positive, although TUI Cruises said that they were asymptomatic.

However, Greek media on Tuesday reported that follow-up tests on the same crew members turned out negative.

The passengers had originally been given a clean bill of health after undergoing tests prior to the voyage, the Greek coastguard said on Monday.

The cruise ship had sailed from the Cretan port of Iraklio on Sunday evening and was heading to Piraeus. But it halted at the Aegean island of Milos on Monday after the infections were detected, before being rerouted to Piraeus.

The ship was the first to return to Greek waters after lockdown measures imposed in March.