NYK Cruises, an NYK Group company, said it would cancel all cruises on Asuka II scheduled to sail in March in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The 1990-built Asuka II offers short Japan-based cruises deploying from Yokohama and Kobe.
The company said it would also cancel its 103-day world cruise scheduled to depart from Japan on April 2 and return in July. The world cruise itinerary usually includes calls at ports in Asia, via Suez Canal to Europe before heading to the USA.
The company added it would refund all travel fees to its passengers.
The cruises scheduled to take part in the second half of the year, and after the end of 2020, are scheduled to move forward according to schedule.
The announcement comes as the number of coronavirus infections reaches 90, 239 cases worldwide, with the majority of infections still being identified in China (77, 780), according to the data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
A total of 2,666 deaths have been confirmed in China as a result of the outbreak, while 34 fatalities have been recorded outside China.
These include 3 deaths in Japan, linked to the outbreak onboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess.
