On Sunday, the Mein Shiff 6, run by TUI Cruises, left Heraklion in Crete with all passengers having tested negative prior to boarding.

But 12 infections were found by sample checks on 150 crew members out of a total of 666. The ship's owners stated that six out of 12 had tested negative since then.

The largest port in the country, Piraeus, with better access to health facilities and is ready to cope with any emergency, government announced. 

The vessel is scheduled to dock there and the vessel will be boarded by the Greek health authorities and the 12 crew members will be repeatedly screened.

"Thanks to the health measures in place and the vessel cleaning rules, there is no reason of concern for visitors and crew members," the company stated.

With some of the earliest large clusters of COVID-19 occurring aboard cruise ships, the cruise industry has taken a major hit from the pandemic. Big cruise ship voyages have only resumed in Greece in recent weeks after being prohibited for months.

Maritime Business World