The biggest maritime operation in Australian peace time history is underway in Sydney Harbour to usher the last cruise ships away amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Under a cloak of darkness, Operation Nemesis was launched by New South Wales police overnight to coordinate crew from five ships which have been cruising off the Australian coast.
The operation comes after the Ruby Princess fiasco, which saw hundreds of coronavirus patients spill out into Sydney Harbour last month with no medical checks performed.
So far, seven passengers have died after leaving the ship, with hundreds more infected.
Eager to avoid another infection crisis, officers from NSW Police Force Marine Area Command were drafted in to manage the mission, unprecedented in peace time.
The NSW Police Force Marine Area Command is leading the largest peace time maritime operation undertaken in Sydney Harbour (pictured early on Saturday morning)
Helicopters helped to coordinate the operation, with smaller tender boats used to ferry crew members from one boat to the other.
This is so those crew members can be taken back to their respective ports.
All the ships have only staff on board who, except for just five remaining Australians, are all foreign nationals.
The operation, which took days of planning, began at 4.30pm on Friday when Spectrum of the Seas was guided by a marine pilot to Athol Bay.
There, it was given essential supplies, including fuel, food and medical materials.
It was joined by Radiance of the Seas, also a Royal Carribean ship, just after 5am in the harbour.
Spectrum of the Seas (pictured on Saturday morning) has no left Australia to go to its home port, after an unprecedented maritime operation
NSW marine officers are seen patrolling the area around 4am on Saturday (pictured) as the operation began with Spectrum of the Seas
Passengers and essential supplies were ferried between the two boats during a carefully managed nighttime operation
With the help of NSW officers, more than 600 crew members were moved between the two ships in numerous tender operations.
Both ships were then able to leave NSW waters to return to their home countries just before 2pm on Saturday.
A third ship – Celebrity Solstice – entered Sydney Harbour just after 2pm, and a further two ships – Voyager of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas – are scheduled to enter the harbour throughout Saturday evening.
A further 780 crew members will be transferred in multiple tender operations, before the remaining three ships depart.
A police boat is seen patrolling the waters around Spectrum of the Seas (pictured) as dawn broke on Saturday
Staff on the Spectrum of the Seas made a sign welcoming colleagues from Radiance of the Seas on board (pictured on Saturday morning) as it prepared to sail home
NSW Police helped move more than 750,000 tonnes of shipping through the Port of Sydney over about 30-hour period (pictured, cargo unloaded on Spectrum of the Seas on Saturday)
On March 16, the federal government banned cruise ships from docking at Australian ports to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Since then, eight ships have remained floating in Australian waters – with only crew on board.
Thanks to the overnight operation, five of them will now be gone – leaving just the embattled Ruby Princess off the coast of NSW near Stanwell Tops.
Six crew from the embattled ships have already been medically evacuated after suffering from coronavirus symptoms.
Two more ships are also still docked in Western Australia, and are at loggerheads with officials who say crew cannot get off.
Spectrum of the Seas is seen preparing to leave Australia on Saturday morning (pictured)
Radiance of the Seas (pictured) will now leave Australia thanks to the carefully planned, military-style operation
As of Saturday night, there were 5,550 confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia, and 30 deaths
The Artania cruise ship, currently in Perth, has 450 crew on board but refused to leave on Wednesday, after 29 Australian passengers on board tested positive for COVID-19.
The world’s largest private residential ship, The World, is off the coast of Fremantle with 280 crew.
Marine Area Commander, Superintendent Steve Hegarty, said the operation has been meticulously planned and executed by the Marine Area Command.
‘NSW Police has been instrumental in facilitating the movement of more than 750,000 tonnes of shipping through the Port of Sydney over about a 30-hour period,’ Supt Hegarty said.
‘It will be the largest peace time maritime operation undertaken in Sydney Harbour and has relied on the cooperation of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and the Port Authority of NSW to ensure its success.’
Cruise ship passengers (pictured) disembarking from the Ruby Princess at Circular Quay in Sydney on March 19. Hundreds of the passengers have since tested positive for COVID-19
A 66-year-old crew member from the Ruby Princess (pictured) is seen being evacuated from the ship on Thursday after suffering coronavirus symptoms
It comes after shocking emails show that NSW Health knew of the coronavirus risk on board the Ruby Princess before allowing its thousands of passengers to disembark.
The Ruby Princess issued an urgent mayday call for an ambulance for two of its passengers presenting with coronavirus-like symptoms 24 hours before the ship was allowed to dock in Sydney on March 19.
The cruise ship was controversially allowed to unload 3,000 passengers at Sydney Harbour last month, despite the government having announced a 30-day ban on cruise arrivals just the day before.
More than 600 of its passengers have since tested positive for COVID-19, a significant amount of NSW total of 2,389 positive cases, and seven passengers have died.
Janet Lieben (pictured, left, with her husband Jerry) had been enjoying an 11-day cruise with around New Zealand on the doomed Ruby Princess. She has since died from COVID-19
Three more of Australia’s 30 coronavirus deaths are also linked to cruise ships.
A police investigation is set to be launched to probe why the passengers exposed to coronavirus were allowed to disembark.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian ordered Police Commissioner Mick Fuller to launch an investigation into the deepening saga.
The Australian Border Force and the NSW Health Department had been locked in a bitter blame game for the security blunder.
But on Thursday, Ms Berejiklian accused the ship’s operator, Carnival Australia, of not providing accurate information to health officials.
The Ruby Princess cruise ship (pictured) is seen from Kurnell National Park in Sydney on Thursday, with around 1,000 crew members still aboard
‘I appreciate how upset everybody is. Don’t you think I’m upset? I’ve lived this and breathed this every day of my life,’ she told Sydney’s 2GB radio station.
‘There were several authorities involved and I’ll be the first one to look someone in the eye if they’ve done the wrong thing and make them accountable.’
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton pointed the finger at the Ruby Princess, alleging its operators weren’t transparent about the health of crew currently on board.
Mr Dutton said it was ‘clear that some of the companies have been lying about the health of passengers and crew on board’.
‘I need to get an honest picture of what’s happening,’ he said.