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350 sick aboard ship in Caribbean Sea cruise

23 February 2010 17:35 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. About 350 people were responding well to medicine after getting sick on a cruise to the Caribbean that departed from South Carolina, the cruise line said Tuesday, APA reports citing â€œAssociated Press.â€

Celebrity Cruise spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said 326 of the more than 1,800 passengers on the Celebrity Mercury began complaining Sunday of upset stomachs, vomiting and diarrhea. Martinez says 27 of the nearly 850 crew members also reported symptoms.

The ship left Charleston on Feb. 15, the first departure in a newly-expanded year-round schedule of cruises from South Carolina as the industry expands in the state.

Martinez says the crew is conducting "enhanced cleaning" to prevent the spread of the illness.

An extra doctor and two nurses came aboard in St. Kitts, in the Leeward Islands, and will sail to Charleston, arriving early Friday.

It’s not clear what caused the outbreak.

The South Carolina cruise industry is growing and the Mercury sailing earlier this month began Charleston’s first year-round cruising season. There will be 67 cruise calls in the city this year.
The Celebrity Mercury has six more departures set from Charleston during the coming months, including a 16-night trip through the Panama Canal ending in Los Angeles.

Later this spring, Carnival Cruise Lines will permanently base its 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy in Charleston.

As the industry grows, the South Carolina State Ports Authority is pursuing plans to open a new cruise terminal and open another half-mile of Charleston’s historic waterfront to the public.

A recent study commissioned by the authority shows cruises will mean $37 million to the South Carolina economy this year.