More than 1,700 people are trapped aboard a cruise liner in Cape Town amid a Covid-19 scare.

Six passengers on the ship, which set sail from Walvis Bay on Friday and arrived off Cape Town on Sunday, were on the same flight as a sailor who had since shown coronavirus symptoms, a Transnet statement said on Tuesday.

The six passengers, who flew to Cape Town from Istanbul then on to Walvis Bay, have since been evacuated and taken to hospital for tests before being moved to a quarantine area arranged by port health officials.

But until their test results are known, the remaining 1,720 passengers and crew are confined to the ship.

Aida Cruises confirmed the screening of six passengers. “Six guests with possible contact are being checked,” said head of communications Hansjörg Kunze.

“The guests have already been on board for one week without showing any symptoms. We have arranged flights accordingly to bring our guests home quickly. For this, however, we are lacking clearance of the local authorities.”

V&A Waterfront spokesperson Donald Kau confirmed the AIDAmira was awaiting clearance from the health department.