- Nine Norwegian Cruise Line passengers were reportedly left on the African island of Sao Tome and Principe on Wednesday
- The group was on a guided excursion that was postponed, causing them to miss the ship’s “all aboard” call.
- The US Embassy in Angola is reportedly helping them rejoin the ship at the next port of call in Senegal
- A statement from Norwegian Cruise Lines notes that all guests are responsible for returning to the docked ship at the designated arrival time
Multiple passengers were left stranded on an island off the African coast on Wednesday after their Norwegian Cruise Line ship reportedly abandoned them.
A couple from South Carolina, Jill and Jay Campbell, enjoyed a guided tour on the island of Sao Tome and Principe, located off the west coast of the continent, ABC15 News reports. The couple were with six other American and Australian passengers when they realized they wouldn’t make it back to the ship in time because their trip was taking longer than planned.
Although the tour operator contacted the cruise ship captain to inform them of the delay, the captain refused to let them return to the still-docked ship when they returned to port because it was after the “all aboard” call, according to the outlet.
The Sao Tome and Principe Coast Guard reportedly then took them by boat directly to the ship where the captain again refused to allow them to board.
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Sao Tome and Principe.
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The group later encountered another stranded passenger, an 80-year-old woman, who was hospitalized on the island after the cruise, according to the release. The woman reportedly experienced memory and vision loss due to the medical emergency.
In addition to the sick passenger, there is another pregnant woman, one heart patient and four elderly people in the group.
Most of the group left their medication and credit cards on board except for the Campbells, who reportedly paid more than $5,000 for food, lodging and other necessities for their fellow passengers.
On Sunday, the US embassy in Angola reportedly arranged for the group to fly to the West African nation of Gambia, the ship’s next scheduled port of call, so they could re-embark.
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Map of West Africa showing Sao Tome and Principe, Gambia and Senegal.
Google Maps
According to ABC News 4, the group discovered that the cruise ship did not dock at the Gambia port as planned because it had to spend another day at sea due to low tide. The release said the passengers spent fifteen hours traveling through six countries to reach the port on Sunday.
They are now on their way to Senegal to meet the ship when it docks there on Tuesday, but expect another long journey, according to passenger Jay Campbell.
“We have to cross the ferry to get into Senegal,” Campbell told the paper. “We just found out from the gentleman that the ferry was not working, but he said no problem, if the ferry is not working, we will take another small boat and then pick up the car from the other side. And when we get to the other side of Senegal, we have another four hours’ drive ahead of us.”
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In a statement to ABC15 News, Norwegian Cruise Line said: “On the afternoon of March 27, 2024, while the ship was in Sao Tome and Principe, an African island nation, eight guests who were on the island alone or on a private tour missed the last tender to return to the vessel, therefore she did not meet the all-on-board time of 15:00 local time.”
The statement continued: “While this is a very unfortunate situation, guests are responsible for ensuring that they return to the ship at the published time, which is widely communicated over the ship’s intercom, in daily communications and announced shortly before disembarkation.”
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The cruise line added that guests were “responsible for all necessary travel expenses” to meet the ship at the next port and that they “delivered each of their passports to local port agents for return” when they missed the call for all ships.
PEOPLE has reached out to Norwegian Cruise Line and the U.S. Embassy in Angola for comment, but has yet to hear back.
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Source: HIS Education