A cruise ship with an outbreak of the Corona virus emerging on board entered the Central American channel of Panama after its passengers were told that the operating company was still searching for a port to be allowed to land despite their pleas for help.

The Panama Canal Authority reported that the "Zandam" ship entered the channel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on Sunday afternoon after transporting healthy passengers to another ship and storing supplies.

The president of Holland America, the operator of the ship Orlando Ashford, acknowledged that a search is still under way for a port after the mayor of Fort Lauderdale, the main destination of the ship, announced that the city in Florida would not be able to risk receiving passengers, four of whom died with Covid-19.

Ashford said in a video message that the company was still trying to "reach a conclusion" regarding where it would be possible to land passengers from the "Zandam" ship.

He said the situation was "difficult and unprecedented."

Zandam has been stuck in the Pacific Ocean since March 14, after flu symptoms appeared in dozens of its 1,800 passengers, while several South American ports refused to allow them to dock.

Panama on Saturday reversed its decision to prevent the ship from crossing the canal and indicated that it would be permitted to move from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea for humanitarian reasons.

But the mayor of Fort Lauderdale Dean Tarantales later said that allowing the ship to dock in his city was "totally unacceptable" as it did not provide any specific assurances regarding subsequent passenger travel arrangements.

"There have been no assurances that they will be escorted from the ship either to a treatment facility or to be placed in quarantine. This is totally unacceptable," Tarantales said on Twitter.

He added, "We cannot increase the risks to our society in light of our existing health crisis with the presence of thousands of people whose tests are confirmed to be highly fatal and contagious-19," adding that the National Guard and the Ministry of Internal Security should "develop a plan to protect society."

One ship for the "healthy" and one for the "sick"

The passengers, who did not show symptoms for a short distance, were transferred to another ship of the same company, "Rotterdam", off Panama on Saturday. "Rotterdam" arrived from San Diego, in the United States, loaded with food, medical staff and Covid-19 examination equipment.

Rotterdam also began moving through the Panama Canal, authorities reported Sunday.

In his letter, Ashford said he wanted to dispel the "myth" that one of the ships was "healthy" and the other "sick".

"Whether you are isolated on board the Zandam or Rotterdam, the way we can protect the healthy people among you is by making sure you are isolated safely while we try to reach a conclusion about where we are going to take you," he assured the passengers of the two ships.

He apologized to them, saying, "It has been many difficult days."

- "Help us, please." - "Zandam" left Buenos Aires on March 7 and was supposed to arrive two weeks later in San Antonio near the Chilean capital Santiago.

Since she briefly stopped in Punta Arenas in the Chilean section of Patagonia on March 14, she has been prevented from landing in several ports after announcing that 42 people on board suffer from influenza-like symptoms.

And the American passenger Laura Gabaroni launched an appeal to provide assistance to the ship on Sunday, saying that the ports that prevented "Zandam" from the anchorage would bear moral responsibility for the deaths of the passengers.

"Four people have died now, and this is the responsibility of all who refused to allow us to disembark," she told France Press after she was transferred from Zandam.

"What we need more than ever now is a place that allows us to anchor for patients to be able to receive treatment and healthy people begin to do all they have to do to return to their countries and lives ... please help us," she added.

In recording his photos from his small room where he has been quarantined for six days, passenger Dante Leguisamon told "France Press" Saturday that "maintaining mental health is very difficult" in the current circumstances.

"I am on a ship I cannot get off with, with Corona virus patients and four dead people," he said.

He added that "in the event of complete uncertainty without money ... and without knowing if there is a plane to return."