The TUI cruise ship “Mein Schiff 2” — literally “My Ship 2” — set sail for a weekend cruise in the North Sea late Friday night, the dpa news agency reported.

Occupancy was limited to 60 per cent so passengers could keep their distance from one another, but even that level was not reached.

The ship sailed off with 1200 passengers on board compared to its normal 2900 capacity. It was not reported how many crew were also on board.

On board, passengers and crew are required to stay 1.5 metres away from one another or wear protective masks and they will not be able to serve themselves at the ship’s buffet. All passengers also had to fill out a health questionnaire before boarding and have their temperatures taken.

After being shut down for months, German cruise ship companies are hoping that shorter, strictly controlled trips will help restart the business that has been devastated by the pandemic, which brought global travel to a standstill, forced cruise ship companies to suspend operations and stranded thousands of passengers and crew worldwide.

Starting August 5, the AIDA cruise operator will sail from Hamburg with its first trip since the pandemic shut operations down months ago, with a second to leave on August 12 from Rostock and a third departing on August 16 from Kiel, dpa reported.

Germany has been widely lauded for its efforts to contain its coronavirus outbreak. It has reported over 206,000 infections but kept deaths to 9124 — only one-fifth of Britain’s death toll.

Germany is now in the process of reopening its economy, with strict guidelines on social distancing, mask use and personal hygiene measures.

US health officials last week extended the US ban on cruise ships through the end of September as coronavirus infections rise in most US states, including Florida, a popular departure site for Caribbean cruises.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief, Dr Robert Redfield, said in the order that cruise industry hasn’t yet controlled the transmission of the virus on its ships.

Dozens of coronavirus outbreaks have hit cruise ships, including the highly-publicised Diamond Princess cruise ship outbreak off Japan that saw 712 infections and 13 deaths.