Two Canadians are among the first passengers transferred from Holland America’s Zaandam cruise ship, where four people have died of COVID-19 and more than a hundred others have flu-like symptoms, to a sister ship called Rotterdam off the coast of Panama.

The cruise line began separating healthy passengers on Friday from those on the Zaandam using tenders, small boats that travel with the ship and are accessible from an opening in the cruise ship just above the water line.

Passengers were given a quick health screening before being allowed to leave, said Greg Weston, who is travelling with his 75-year-old father Fenton Weston, and was on the first boat load of 64 passengers.

“I think overall there has been a sense of relief among the passengers to be on the Rotterdam, mixed with sadness for the people that passed away, and sympathy for the sick people still aboard the Zaandam,” said Greg Weston in an email.

The transferring of passengers is expected to continue all day Saturday and Sunday, he said.

The federal government is monitoring the situation.

“We are aware of 247 Canadian passengers and one Canadian crew member on the Zaandam cruise ship currently anchored in Panama,” said Global Affairs Canada in an email Saturday. No Canadians have died.

“We continue to engage with the passengers and Holland America. Passengers without symptoms are being transferred to the MS Rotterdam with plans to dock at a U.S. port in the coming days,” according to the release. “The cruise line was waiting to hear if Panamanian officials would approve the ship’s passage through the Panama Canal so it could sail to Fort Lauderdale, Florida but that request has been denied.”

Holland America said in an email it is “working on alternative options.”

Zaandam has been at sea after it left Buenos Aires, Argentina on March 7. It arrived at its destination, San Antonio, Chile, two weeks later, where it was denied permission to dock. Holland America had already announced on March 17 that it was suspending global operations.

Passengers on Zaandam started to report influenza-like symptoms to the ship’s medical centre on March 22, according to a release from the cruise line, at which point all passengers were asked to keep to their staterooms.

As of a March 27 release from the company, a total of 53 passengers and 85 crew had reported feeling sick. Holland America has not provided updated numbers.

The ship has four doctors and four nurses. There are another two doctors and four nurses on the Rotterdam. Medical supplies, including oxygen tanks, have been transferred onto the Zaandam, according to a statement from the Panama Maritime Authority.

The authority also said 401 asymptomatic passengers would be transferred to the Rotterdam. The Zaandam has a total of 1,243 passengers and 586 crew on board, according to Holland America. Guests and crew have been given face masks, with instructions on how to use them.

In a tweet, the Panama Canal authority said personnel, including line handlers, boarding officers and pilots, are required to board ships and that any vessel carrying passengers who have tested positive for COVID-19 cannot transit the canal, as per the country’s health ministry guidelines.

(Late Saturday, Holland America released a statement saying it had received reports that the Panama Canal authority would allow them to transit the canal. “This remains a dynamic situation, and we continue to work with the Panamanian authorities to finalize details,” according to the statement from the cruise line.)

Greg, who works for a financial firm in Toronto, and his father left Canada on March 4 and spent two days in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before boarding the cruise ship on March 7.

He said things “started to unravel,” after the first week. A scheduled stop in Ushuaia, Argentina was cancelled because the country was no longer accepting cruise ships. Passengers were then told the cruise would terminate in Punta Arenas, Chile, but officials there wouldn’t let passengers disembark, says Weston.

The ship went on to Valparaiso, Chile, to refuel and load up on supplies and then headed for Panama on March 21.

“We seemed to be headed on the way home,” said Weston, who said all the passengers had passed a health screening in Punta Arenas. “We were in the middle of an ocean feeling safe,” he said.

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But the next day, around 2 p.m., he said the captain announced that several passengers and crew had complained of flu-like symptoms and confined passengers to their rooms. He says they found out Friday that four passengers had died and two had tested positive for the virus.

Weston says the crew on-board the Zaandam and Rotterdam have been “absolutely terrific during this time. Can't say enough positive things about them.”

“It is still up in the air about where we will end up,” says Weston. “At this point, we just want to get home to start our two-week quarantine period.”