Panaji, Jun 18 (IANS): A cruise ship carrying 1,452 seafarers docked at Goa's Mormugao Port Trust on Thursday and the sailors are currently undergoing deboarding formalities and swab testing.

"Seafarers numbering 1,452 arrived today for sign off at MPT, Goa. Swab collection is going on," the Chief Minister's Office tweeted late on Thursday. The stranded sailors who arrived at the Goa port, were initially stranded in two different ports in US and Europe, but were pooled on one international cruiseliner and were ferried to Goa.

A Health Ministry official said that all the seafarers would be housed in the ship itself, until the results of their tests are formally declared. "Those who test positive and are symptomatic will shifted to the Covid hospital, those who are positive but are asymptomatic will be admitted to government Covid care centres and the rest will be sent to institutional quarantine facilities for the stipulated period," the official said.

Meanwhile, the state's tally of active Covid-19 cases reached 596 on Thursday with 49 persons testing positive.