French authorities on Wednesday confined more than 1,700 passengers and crew on a British cruise ship after an elderly passenger died and dozens suffered upset stomachs, health officials said.

They insisted there was no connection with the hantavirus outbreak, suspected of killing three passengers on the Dutch MV Hondius cruise ship that set sail from Argentina, which has sparked international alarm.

Dozens suffered from upset stomachs aboard the Ambition – most of whose 1,233 passengers are from Britain or Ireland – which arrived in the western port of Bordeaux on Tuesday, with 514 crew members also on board.

One 92-year-old British passenger on the Ambition, run by the UK-based Ambassador Cruise Line company, had died of a heart attack, health authorities said.

"At this stage, no link has been established with the gastroenteritis episode," they added on Wednesday afternoon.

Initial tests ruled out an outbreak of norovirus, a highly contagious form of gastroenteritis which causes vomiting and diarrhoea, but secondary tests were still underway, they added.

Food poisoning had not been excluded.

Passengers on board the Ambition showed peak symptoms on Monday when the ship was docked in Brest, the officials said. The man in his nineties died before they arrived at the port in France's north-western Brittany region.

The ship, which left the Shetland Islands north of Scotland on May 6, stopped in Belfast and Liverpool in England before reaching Bordeaux, from where it was scheduled to depart for Spain.

It was initially supposed to dock back in Liverpool on May 22.

The cruise line company on its Facebook page said its figures showed an increase in cases after embarking guests in Liverpool.

No security measures were in place around the ship as it was docked in Bordeaux on Wednesday. Passengers were taking pictures of the French city from the deck.

Those on board would be allowed to disembark "once clearance is granted," the cruise line said. (AFP)




Edited by Robert Kemp