It would not have been right for Singapore to turn away the Costa Fortuna cruise ship as the passengers had embarked from Singapore with plans to return, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong yesterday.

More than 600 passengers had disembarked from the Costa Fortuna cruise ship, which treats Singapore as one of its home ports, as of noon yesterday.

The Costa Fortuna docked at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre at 7.35am, after being turned away by ports in Thailand and Malaysia over coronavirus fears.

"I can understand why Singaporeans are concerned about the cruise... but this particular ship is different," said Mr Wong.

"The passengers were already in Singapore, they had arrived in Singapore. And then they embarked on a cruise from Singapore with the intention to come back to Singapore."

The travellers would have been checked by a doctor if they had been to affected regions, he added.

They would also have gone immediately from the cruise ship to the airport. Most would have left Singapore by last night after disembarking, and "virtually all will leave in one to two days", said Mr Wong.

He said the majority of the passengers were tourists but there were at least two Singaporeans on board the Costa Fortuna.