Cruise Ship Passengers Set for Australia Return

View of an iceberg and the Hurtigruten hybrid expedition cruise ship MS Roald Amundsen on Half Moon island, Antarctica on November 09, 2019. (by JOHAN ORDONEZ/Getty Images)

More than 100 Australian and New Zealand residents aboard an Antarctica cruise ship anchored off the coast of Uruguay are expected to fly into Melbourne over Easter.

Aurora Expeditions, the operator of the Greg Mortimer ship, has chartered a flight from Montevideo which is scheduled to arrive in Australia on Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told AAP on April 10.

Of the more than 200 people on the vessel, 96 are Australian passengers and crew, along with roughly 16 New Zealand citizens.

Five Australians have already been taken off the Greg Mortimer and hospitalised in Montevideo, DFAT said.