MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Unexpected call of Viking Jupiter to Uruguay; she's scheduled to visit the Falkland Islands

The Viking Jupiter in Punta del Este; passengers were allowed ashore

The Atlantic coast resort Punta del Este received on Saturday the first cruise vessel since the start of the pandemic. The expedition cruise Viking Jupiter was scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires, but since it had stopped at Cape Verde islands in Africa, Argentina is demanding a fourteen day quarantine before letting anybody in the country.

The Punta del Este port chief Carlos Ferreira said the Viking Jupiter left from Barcelona and called at Portugal, Cape Verde and finally Montevideo, before heading for the ocean seaside resort.

Ferreira admitted “we weren't expecting the Viking Jupiter, since it was scheduled to be in Buenos Aires, before heading south to Puerto Madryn, Falklands Islands, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Puerto Mont and Valparaiso”.

The Viking Jupiter carries 382 passengers and 420 crew members. Ferreira added that most passengers are from the United States and the vessel is equipped with a state of the art lab for Covid testing, every day if necessary.

The vessel is scheduled to make eleven calls in Uruguay and some six in the Falklands during the first quarter of next year.

In related news the Hamburg cruise after overcoming difficulties in Buenos Aires with no positive tested cases of Covid 19, is currently sailing close to South Georgia en route to Antarctica, while the Ultramarine remains anchored in the bay of Ushuaia port, until the Covid 19 outbreak is sorted out.