MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Puerto Madryn refuses to allow cruise vessel Hamburg to dock or let people ashore

The Hamburg in Buenos Aires. Some port authority believed Cape Verde was in Asia and not a former Portuguese colony in western Africa

The mayor of Puerto Madryn, Patagonia province of Chubut, Gustavo Sastre has asked the local port authority to prevent the cruise vessel Hamburg from calling and docking at the harbor. Hamburg is continuing with its southern cruise, after having left Buenos Aires on Monday

Speaking to the local media, Sastre said that “I can assure you that this cruise vessel will not dock at Puerto Madryn. I'm not going to expose any of the people of my town to any risk, or for that matter get involved in a controversy we do not deserve”.

In effect the arrival of the Hamburg to Buenos Aires created a great misunderstanding particularly with the advent of the new Covid Omicron variant. Buenos Aires port authorities allowed the vessel to dock with its 300 passengers on board, despite she was coming from Cape Verde, who some Argentine official, ignorant of geography believed was some unknown destination apparently in Asia, and not the former Portuguese colony off the western coast of Africa!

Not only that, apparently the vessel's captain anticipated he had a couple of suspicious cases on board which were confined to specific cabins.

As usually happens in Argentina, there was an exchange of accusations between health, sanitary and port officials, with little light shed on the true events, and the Hamburg was finally ordered to leave.

In Puerto Madryn although Chubut province health minister Fabian Puratich originally had assured that all protocols would be applied to the vessel when it calls at the local harbor, Mayor Sastre contacted port authorities and asked that the vessel remains in the bay and does not dock.

“We continue working with to upkeep of our epidemiologic situation and ensure the health of all, and every neighbor of the city remains safe”, Sastre twitted in his account.

The Hamburg is currently sailing south and is scheduled to call at Puerto Madryn on Thursday, December 2nd at 8:00 in the morning. However she will not be allowed to dock and no passengers to disembark, according to Town Hall. .