SINGAPORE, March 5 — Irish singer Ronan Keating apologised on Tuesday (March 3) for his Instagram post on Sunday claiming that ships near Singapore were not allowed to dock due to Covid-19.

"I recently posted this pic after being told by a local in Singapore that the reason they were all parked up was due to the virus,” Keating wrote in his post.

He said he had been informed that this was not true, and apologised for offending anyone as he would "never purposefully do that”. His erroneous post has since been removed.

The singer added that he had been in Singapore for a gig. He also had a message for his "haters”, telling them to "get on with your short life”.

Keating ended his post with a reminder on personal hygiene: "Peace and love to all and wash your hands.” — TODAY