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A superyacht which sparked fears of an international Covid outbreak in north Queensland is ‘available for charter’ after it was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Two crew members onboard the Lady E superyacht which arrived in the Sunshine State on December 20 from the Maldives initially tested positive for coronavirus.
Health authorities initially claimed the crew on board weren’t cooperating with police and contact tracers and confirmed an investigation would be conducted into the movements of the ship before it docked.
But further serology testing has since revealed both cases of Covid that were detected were historic, and no crew were infectious upon arriving in Australia.
The yacht’s managing director told Daily Mail Australia it will remain in Queensland for the time being to support local tourism and is now available for charter.
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Two crew members onboard the Lady E superyacht which arrived in the Sunshine State on December 20 from the Maldives initially tested positive for coronavirus
A week onboard the luxury liner cost at least $775,000, and includes a marine basketball court, heated pool, sauna and spa room, onboard masseuse and yoga teacher.
Captain James Kennedy told Daily Mail Australia all 20 crew cooperated with Queensland Health authorities from the outset and would continue to do so.
‘All crew were interviewed and temperature checked by Queensland Health,’ he said when recalling their arrival into Australia.
‘The crew’s negative tests undertaken in the Maldives have been provided to Queensland contact tracers.’
All crew onboard also supplied voluntary blood samples to assist medics.
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A week onboard the luxury liner cost at least $USD595,000 and includes a marine basketball court, heated pool, sauna and spa room, on-board masseuse and yoga teacher
Four days ago, Captain Kennedy warned that the cases were likely historic, given both crew members had previously tested positive for Covid back in the Maldives.
He explained that one crew member tested negative immediately before boarding a flight to Male to board the ship, but testing positive to Covid on arrival.
The entire crew were then again tested for coronavirus, and ‘some tested positive’ at that stage, Captain Kennedy explained.
For the next 14 days, all crew were placed into onshore quarantine besides a handful who were required to quarantine on the yacht to keep it maintained.
After all, the crew tested negative and had recovered, they were given the all-clear to start their travels to Queensland on December 5.
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Despite previous reports, Captain Kennedy confirmed there were no guests onboard the vessel when it docked in Australia
Lady E then travelled 14 days at sea from the Maldives to Cairns, ‘effectively further quarantining the crew’, with Captain Kennedy swearing no stops were made during the trip.
Despite previous reports, Captain Kennedy confirmed there were no guests onboard the vessel when it docked in Australia.
He said the Lady E underwent a full and extensive refurbishment in London throughout 2020 and has not chartered guests since September 2019.
Captain Kennedy said all crew will remain in mandatory quarantine until early January as per Queensland Health regulations.
It is not clear when the ship will depart, or where it will next head.
”We’re grateful to the authorities for the effective and thorough processing of our ship and crew,’ he said.
‘These latest blood test results indicate that our team members are healthy and well.’
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