1,700 confined on cruise ship in Bordeaux amidst gastroenteritis fears
Briton in his nineties died on board from illness
Passengers are currently confined to the ship. Archive photo shows 'The Amibition' sailing through the Solent near Portsmouth in 2025
Peter Titmuss/Shutterstock
More than 1,700 people have been unofficially quarantined on a cruise ship currently docked in Bordeaux following the death of a passenger on board.
The passenger, a Briton in his nineties, died of a suspected gastroenteritis illness, a source told the Agence France Presse.
Around 50 other people on board are also sick. Initial tests on board do not point towards a norovirus outbreak - initially suspected to be the reason for the mass illness - but further tests are underway.
Health authorities are tracing the possible origin of the outbreak and samples are being sent to the local centre for infectious diseases in Bordeaux.
Any link to the hantavirus outbreak seen on the MV Hondius cruise ship has been ruled out.
Local authorities decided “to suspend the disembarkation of passengers and crew" and "to limit interactions with the port,” Gironde prefect Étienne Guyot announced in a press release this morning.
This was “a precautionary measure due to the contagiousness of gastroenteritis-type illnesses and pending the results of tests,” the press release said.
Ship bound for Spain
The ‘Ambition’, a ship run by Ambassador Cruise Line, arrived in Bordeaux on Tuesday night (May 12), following a stop in Brest.
The majority of the 1,233 passengers on board are British or Irish, with the ship’s original itinerary traversing the Atlantic Ocean from Scotland’s Shetland Isles to Spain.
More than 500 crew members are also present on board.
The peak of the illness episode was recorded on Monday (May 11) when the ship was docked in Brest and immediately after departing. The passenger died while the ship was at sea between Brest and Bordeaux.
