MV World Odyssey, a Semester at Sea (SAS) passenger ship, has decided to divert route from its upcoming port stops in Malaysia and India. Cochin Port is being skipped following the confirmation of two cases of COVID-19 in Kerala. Currently, the passenger ship, carrying about 600 students, is conducting a multi-country study abroad programme as per Spring 2020 schedule. It left San Diego on January 4, 2020 and will reach Port Klang, Malaysia on February 19 for provisioning and bunkering.
As per schedule, it was to berth at Port Klang, Malaysia on February 19 and sail towards Cochin on February 24. Instead, now, it will arrive at Port Louis, Mauritius on February 27.
The ship, which functions both as a travelling university and a residential home to more than 1,200 participants each year, earlier skipped Shanghai and arrived at Vietnam on February 4, 2020 from Kobe, Japan.
Rotary International District 3232 has been sending a couple of students for the SAS programme each year for more than a decade.
One student from each port is taken as a cultural ambassador to explain about his/her country and he/she will disembark at his/her country, while the next student would hop on to the ship one port earlier to their country.
