News on the Westerdam

[bcummin]

2 hours ago, MAVIP said:

Manilla: Perhaps boarding or disembarking Philippine crew? I am curious.

 

Surely some of the crew will get to see their families.  :)

Barbara

[USN59-79]

2 hours ago, bcummin said:

 

Surely some of the crew will get to see their families.  🙂

Barbara

I was also on Westerdam from 7-21 December.  Our first stop was in Manila and many family members were able to come on board at that time.  So it hasn't been as long as some seem to be assuming.

[*Miss G*]

40 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

I was also on Westerdam from 7-21 December.  Our first stop was in Manila and many family members were able to come on board at that time.  So it hasn't been as long as some seem to be assuming.

 

“Long” is relative.  I know 2+ months would be super long, for me, if I hadn’t seen my kids or spouse since before Christmas.

[cruiserchuck]

8 hours ago, syesmar said:

For those who were aboard the Westerdam, could you confirm the deails from this article?  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/health/coronavirus-westerdam-cdc.html

 

“...Tests of nearly 1,500 passengers, mostly conducted by Cambodian health officials, had turned up no other infections, the agency (CDC) said, and therefore the passengers are at little to no risk of carrying the virus.

 

The Westerdam carried about 2,000 passengers, however, and those who left Cambodia first were never tested for the coronavirus....”

 

Is that correct information?  Thanks!

 

I found this statement interesting: “I’m thinking they must have some information from the testing laboratory in Malaysia that would give the C.D.C. confidence in saying yes, that was a false-positive result,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.  “Obviously, if it was a true positive, you would keep all those people in self-monitoring.”  

Also

“The irresponsibility of some foreigners on the health test of Westerdam passengers makes Cambodia the victim of its humanitarian work,” (Cambodian PM) Mr. Hun Sen said in a Facebook post on Saturday. “If I were the Malaysian P.M., I would remove the health minister for being neglectful and irresponsible.”

 

Again, welcome home to the passengers!  So glad you are alright!

 

The reports that I read indicated that when the ship first arrived in Cambodia, only about 20 passengers were tested for Coronavirus.  I believe the ones tested had flu like symptoms.  The 20 or so tests came back negative, and all passengers were authorized to disembark.  When one passenger arrived in Malaysia, she had a fever and was tested, and the results were positive.   

[USN59-79]

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

“Long” is relative.  I know 2+ months would be super long, for me, if I hadn’t seen my kids or spouse since before Christmas.

I was just trying to put it into perspective.  None of the other HAL ships are stopping in Manila and no one is thinking about their crew members.  When I was in the Navy we were often deployed for 6 to 9 months and the internet hadn't been invented then.

[Wehwalt]

After all that's happened with the Westerdam, it would be only human for the relatives to want to see their crew member, in the flesh so to speak, and satisfy themselves that the crew member is OK in a way that video chat just won't do.

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, USN59-79 said:

I was just trying to put it into perspective.  None of the other HAL ships are stopping in Manila and no one is thinking about their crew members.  When I was in the Navy we were often deployed for 6 to 9 months and the internet hadn't been invented then.

 

To put it in perspective, as you say, this is the “News on the Westerdam” thread so that is why people are commenting on family visits for the crew who are on the Westerdam and not another ship.  The logistics to put that together took a lot of effort and the crew and their families would have been looking forward to it.  I’m sure it must have been disappointing for all.  Posters have empathy for that situation.

[bcummin]

2 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

I was just trying to put it into perspective.  None of the other HAL ships are stopping in Manila and no one is thinking about their crew members.  When I was in the Navy we were often deployed for 6 to 9 months and the internet hadn't been invented then.

 

The Westerdam is in a unique situation.  And the crew missed their Manila visit just a few weeks ago.

Navy separations were not easy.  Our longest was for 13 months.

My heart goes out to the crew, celebrating that they can hopefully see their families.

Barbara

[Wehwalt]

When I was on the Westerdam last, in 2018, we called at Manila and family members came even from off-island to visit. 

[syesmar]

Some very good news!  From https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101 "...If all goes as planned, the vaccine could be ready within three weeks and available in 90 days...."  The article is very insightful and worth a read!

[shanni-shanni]

This also.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/covid-19-treatment-co-created-by-ubc-researcher-begins-clinical-trial-1.4827835

 

Not just a vaccine but a treatment.

 

Tom

[mkkao924]

Looks like Westerdam is now at Japan?

[richwmn]

4 minutes ago, mkkao924 said:

Looks like Westerdam is now at Japan?

What site is showing that. Marine traffic still shows her to be in Cambodia, but out of range and not reporting and next port is Manila. Cruise Mapper shows her to be at sea about half way between Cambodia and the Philippines.

[dado123456]

Vessel Finder is the most accurate tracker.

https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/WESTERDAM-IMO-9226891-MMSI-244128000

She'ss heading to Manila, should be there tomorrow.

Tracker is useless when ship is far from land. AIS can't reach her.

Not sure where she'll be sailing next but she will reach Alaska in the first half of May.

Edited February 28, 2020 by dado123456
Addon

[ksmaxey]

On 2/27/2020 at 11:37 AM, syesmar said:

Some very good news!  From https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101 "...If all goes as planned, the vaccine could be ready within three weeks and available in 90 days...."  The article is very insightful and worth a read!

 

I just returned from Israel and met a doctor from the US who shared about this vaccine.  Glad it has made the news

 

[Floridiana]

On 2/26/2020 at 5:40 PM, cruiserchuck said:

 

The reports that I read indicated that when the ship first arrived in Cambodia, only about 20 passengers were tested for Coronavirus.  I believe the ones tested had flu like symptoms.  

 

One passenger came back to this thread after he was home. He said they were all tested with nose and throat swabs by people in hazmat suits. That was done in the hotel in Phnom Pen.

[jakkojakko]

Position Westerdam 29th Feb. 13:15 london uk time, 0800 eastern us time.

She is definately going towards a philipine harbour.

[USN59-79]

Interesting that they are going to the Philippines.  This whole fiasco started when the Philippine Government decided to refuse the Westerdam entry to their country.  I am assuming that this caused other countries, like Taiwan and Thailand to assume that if the Philippines won't have them, there must be a serious problem onboard.

Another thing:  On Friday, 21 February we all received an email from Orlando Ashford expressing thanks for the tribulations we experienced and stating "Another email will be forthcoming next week to remind you of the process for submitting your expense reimbursements."  It has been a week.  Has anyone received that email?

[bcummin]

18 hours ago, Floridiana said:

 

One passenger came back to this thread after he was home. He said they were all tested with nose and throat swabs by people in hazmat suits. That was done in the hotel in Phnom Pen.

 

This would not have been the first group that left the Westerdam and went to Malaysia, which was the original question (#1379 by cruiserchuck).

Twenty passengers (the only ones with health problems) had first been tested, but I am not sure what kind of test.

And yes, the last group of passengers in Cambodia were tested as described above.

Barbara

Edited February 29, 2020 by bcummin

[frankc98376]

HAL said previously that there were plans to thank the crew for their hard work.  Perhaps since the ship is "clean" they are returning to Manila to allow crew to be with families. 

[Wehwalt]

I use the "Cruise Map" feature in the Navigator app to see where the ships are and it shows Westerdam a little outside Manila Bay.

[ger_77]

3 hours ago, frankc98376 said:

HAL said previously that there were plans to thank the crew for their hard work.  Perhaps since the ship is "clean" they are returning to Manila to allow crew to be with families. 

Wouldn't that be a nice gesture?  Sure hope that's what's happening.  The crew worked over - overtime for the Westerdam guests; it's time for them to be rewarded.

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

[Bellair]

Wouldn't that be a nice gesture?  Sure hope that's what's happening.  The crew worked over - overtime for the Westerdam guests; it's time for them to be rewarded.
 
Smooth Sailing! [emoji846][emoji846][emoji846]

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[Wehwalt]

It looks like they are about four or five miles offshore in Manila Bay, a line drawn due east would go a bit north of the Mall of Asia. I wonder if they plan to dock or just use tenders.

[USN59-79]

2 hours ago, ger_77 said:

Wouldn't that be a nice gesture?  Sure hope that's what's happening.  The crew worked over - overtime for the Westerdam guests; it's time for them to be rewarded.

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

I am not sure what you mean.  While we were on board, it was just like an ordinary cruise for them.  As we left, there was less and less for them to do and in the past week they have had the ship to themselves.  Other than the fact that they weren't earning gratuities, sounds like a sweet deal.