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The Ruby Princess cruise ship has docked at Port Kembla a day after NSW Police announced a criminal investigation into the handling of the ship's passengers.
The massive 18-deck ship still has 1,040 crew from 50 different countries on board, and about one fifth of them are exhibiting coronavirus symptoms.
Eleven deaths and more than 600 cases of COVID-19 have been linked to the ship, meaning it is the single biggest source of coronavirus infections in Australia.
The Ruby Princess is staying at Port Kembla for 10 days to refuel and stock up supplies, but how the crew will be repatriated, and where the ship will go next, remains unclear.
Where is Port Kembla?
Port Kembla is an industrial suburb in Wollongong, about 100km south of Sydney, in NSW's Illawarra region.
Under normal circumstances, cruise ships would dock at the iconic Circular Quay in Sydney Harbour. But these are not normal circumstances.
The ship has docked to allow medical staff to board and assess and treat ill crew members.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says about 200 are showing coronavirus symptoms.
People who require treatment in hospital will be taken off the ship, but no-one else will be allowed on to Australian soil.
All crew on board, including the captain, are isolating in their cabins.
What happens next?
Last week, several Ruby Princess crew members were taken off the ship at sea to receive medical treatment in Sydney — a task Commissioner Fuller described as "dangerous".
"Taking sick crew and passengers off any ship at sea is a dangerous task and that's why the ship will be docked," he said.
The ship has been told to leave Australian waters.
Its home port is in Bermuda, but it's unclear if the Ruby Princess will return there after leaving NSW.
The Federal Government has banned travel to Australia, so the crew will not be allowed to stay Down Under.
Commissioner Fuller said while the ship's sick crew would be treated at NSW hospitals, it was the responsibility of the ship's operator, Carnival Australia, to repatriate everyone.
What about the police investigation?
On Sunday, Commissioner Fuller launched a criminal inquiry to determine whether Carnival Australia downplayed the number of potential coronavirus cases on the ship before it docked at Circular Quay on March 19.
Homicide squad heavyweight Detective Chief Inspector Jason Dickinson has been tasked with the investigation.
The homicide squad is, typically, tasked with probing deaths — mainly suspected murders and manslaughters.
However, this investigation will look at all agencies involved in the incident, and it's understood NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard will be interviewed in due process.
The Australian Border Force has previously said NSW Health was responsible for letting about 2,700 passengers off the boat, and claims authorities knew more than a dozen people on board had exhibited coronavirus symptoms when that happened.
Carnival Australia has indicated it will cooperate with the investigation and hand over any information required, including emails, text messages, radio transmissions and medical correspondence between the doctor and ship's captain.
NSW Health has said no cases of coronavirus were identified on the ship before it docked (there is no capability to test for coronavirus on board), and pointed out the majority of people did not develop symptoms until after leaving the vessel.
Topics: health, diseases-and-disorders, infectious-diseases-other, law-crime-and-justice, crime, police, wollongong-2500, sydney-2000
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