OSLO (REUTERS) - Norwegian cruise operator Hurtigruten will cut short a voyage in the Antarctica region following an outbreak of coronavirus, the company said on Thursday (Jan 6).

Ten people on board the MS Roald Amundsen cruise vessel had tested positive for Covid-19, and the ship will return to port in Chile two days ahead of schedule, a spokesman for Hurtigruten said.

The ship, carrying some 362 passengers and crew, had set out for an 18-day cruise from Punta Arenas in southern Chile and will now return to the same port.

The MS Roald Amundsen was also hit by a coronavirus outbreak in August 2020, in which dozens of passengers and crew tested positive, public health officials in Norway said at the time.