Australian police recover black box in Ruby Princess investigation

Australian police boarded the Ruby Princess cruise ship Wednesday night to gather evidence in its investigation into how thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney last month resulting in a spike of Covid-19 cases, according to NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller.

Fuller said today that the ship’s captain was “extremely helpful” and that the black box was recovered along with other evidence.

On March 19, more than 2,600 passengers from the cruise ship disembarked in Sydney. More than 600 cases and 15 deaths are linked to the ship, according to public broadcaster ABC.

Officers went on the ship under the powers of the NSW coroner who has started a preliminary investigation.

Fuller said police were waiting for a human health report before deciding next steps and that report would be central to the investigation. He could not give a time frame for the investigation.

More than 1,000 crew members remain on the ship and Fuller says 75% have said they’d like to remain onboard.