Passengers are seen on a Princess Cruises ship. The local tourism sector is under immense pressure as two major cruise lines, Princess Cruises and Viking, have stopped operating their cruise ships globally

Princess Cruises will suspend its 18 cruises for two months, while Viking ships are set to halt their operations until May 1.

Many ports have seen no cruise ships docking there amid growing fears of coronavirus, wreaking havoc on the cruise tourism sector.

Jan Swartz, chairman of Princess Cruises, said on the cruise line’s website that the suspension is necessary to protect passengers and crew members from coronavirus infection.

Princess Cruises serves some 50,000 passengers from 70 countries and territories each day, so it will be heavily affected by the suspension caused by the coronavirus.

Numerous firms told the Saigon Times that other cruise ship operators are also considering halting operations of their ship fleets, as the number of global coronavirus infections are soaring, posing high risks of infection to passengers and crew members.

As previously planned, a Silver Spirit cruise liner carrying more than 800 passengers and crew members was to dock at a HCMC port on March 13, but the city barred it from making a port call due to fears of passengers and crew members being infected with the coronavirus. SGT