MS Westerdam has been turned away by five countries over coronavirus fears, though it says it has no sick passengers

Cambodia has agreed to let a cruise ship that has been turned away by five countries over fears that someone aboard may have the coronavirus to dock and disembark its passengers, the ship’s operator has said.

The MS Westerdam, which has 1,455 passengers and 802 crew on board, will dock at the Cambodian sea port of Sihanoukville on Thursday, Holland America Line said.

The ship – which says it has no sick passengers – has been turned away from Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Guam and the Philippines, prompting fears prior to Wednesday’s announcement that it could run out of food as it searched for a port.

“We will immediately begin making our way to Sihanoukville in Cambodia,” Westerdam captain Vincent Smit told passengers. “There will be a brief health inspection on board by the Cambodian authorities which will take place at anchor just before we arrive.” The ship is expected to arrive in Cambodia at about 7am (0000 GMT) on Thursday, he said.

Crew members staged a farewell ceremony for passengers on Wednesday morning, singing to the tune of the 1979 hit We Are Family by Sister Sledge.

Stephen Hansen, a Canadian on board the Westerdam with his wife, said they had joined the ship on 16 January in Singapore and were originally scheduled to get off in Yokohama, its intended final destination.

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“Passengers are OK but anxious for a resolution,” Hansen told the Guardian in a message before the Cambodia decision was announced. “If it goes on much longer the ship will run low on food, fuel and medications.

“Day-to-day life onboard is still pretty typical for a cruise. There are no restrictions on movement, eats etc. Generally the mood is still OK but each new rejection/disappointment brings increased frustration and anxiety.”

Hansen, from Vancouver, said the crew were doing an “amazing job trying to keep life normal and passengers happy. A few passengers have become angry and are venting on social media but I think most are trusting that it will all work out OK soon.”

“That said, this has become a political issue and our governments need to step in our behalf. Maybe they already are but we have no news of that.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Workers wearing protective suits walk away from the cruise ship Diamond Princess Photograph: Kim Kyung Hoon/Reuters

There are no confirmed cases of the virus onboard the Westerdam, but it stopped in Hong Kong less than two weeks ago, which is within the incubation period of the virus.

The passengers include 650 from the US, 271 from Canada, 127 from the UK and 91 from the Netherlands, with smaller numbers of people from Australia, Germany, China and other countries.

Officials in Japan, meanwhile, said another 39 people onboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner had been diagnosed with the virus, with one quarantine officer also infected, bringing the total number of cases to 175.

In all, Japan has confirmed 203 cases, prompting South Korea on Tuesday to “strongly advise” its citizens not to travel to Japan and several other countries in Asia.

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The Diamond Princess, which is docked in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, will remain quarantined until at least 19 February, although media reports said plans were being made to remove older passengers and those with chronic health conditions not connected to the virus before then. Officials said it would take time to work out where they could be sent. About 3,700 people are onboard the cruise ship, which usually has a crew of 1,100 and a passenger capacity of 2,670.

“Out of 53 new test results, 39 people were found positive,” Japan’s health minister, Katsunobu Kato, told reporters, adding that four passengers diagnosed earlier were in a serious condition. Kato said in parliament that he wanted to expand testing to all passengers and crew onboard, and that authorities could muster resources to do more than 1,000 tests a day.

The ship has been in quarantine since arriving off the Japanese coast early last week after the virus was detected in a former passenger who got off the ship last month in Hong Kong.