ATHENS (AFP) - A Greek cruise ship was placed in quarantine near Athens with 383 people on board after about 20 passengers tested positive for Covid-19, port police said on Tuesday (March 31).

The Eleftherios Venizelos was sailing from Turkey to Spain when it stopped at the port of Piraeus on March 22.

The Greek-owned ship "could not continue to Spain because of the serious situation in that country due to the new coronavirus," a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Around 20 people on board have tested positive for Covid-19 and the ship must now stay in Piraeus, the official said.

Only 33 of the 383 passengers and crew are Greek, according to the coast guard which did not give a breakdown of the other nationalities.

Greece currently has 1,212 official cases of the novel coronavirus and has recorded 47 deaths.