Six crew members onboard a cruise ship which called at Bermuda last Friday were taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) with salmonella, the ship's owners confirmed yesterday.

But Radisson Seven Seas, owners of the Seven Seas Mariner, said an elderly passenger who died onboard and who was taken off when the ship reached Hamilton, was not affected by the bug. The 81-year-old American passenger was found dead in his suite and was not struck by the illness, Radisson director of strategic marketing Andrew Poulton told The Royal Gazette.

He confirmed that 18 people, 14 crew and four guests, showed salmonella-like symptoms on the cruise from Europe and were tested in Tenerife, capital of Spain's Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.

Test results obtained while the ship was heading for Bermuda on a scheduled visit showed five crew members affected, and a further crew member was confirmed at KEMH. Mr. Poulton, who is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said the outbreak appeared to have been caused by staff who encountered "insanitary conditions" onshore in Europe.

"(The man's death) was not related in any way to any kind of gastric condition. He was an elderly man who was found deceased in his suite," said Mr. Poulton. "We really don't know what caused (the outbreak). Because it was among the crew, and none of it was among the food handlers or food foodstuffs, we can only conclude that they must have been in contact with insanitary conditions when onshore."

The ship arrived in Florida on Monday and continued later that day on a cruise to the Caribbean, added Mr. Poulton.

Meanwhile, on Monday, US health inspectors in Miami boarded the Carnival Fascination, the latest cruise ship to be hit by a mass bout of sickness.

More than 200 passengers were affected by vomiting, diarrhoea and other symptoms during a weekend cruise from Miami - the third major cruise ship sickness in recent days.

Disney Cruise Line last Wednesday cancelled a week-long cruise on the Disney Magic after 450 people contracted Norwalk-like sicknesses on two cruises.