Cruise tourism

"Imminent arrival" of cruise ships poses risk

Cruise lines have suspended operations for the time being. | Archive

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma02/06/2020 12:28

Associations which comprise the platform against mega-cruise ships have sent a letter to the president (speaker) of the Balearic parliament, Vicenç Thomas, and called for measures to be adopted because of the "imminent" arrival of cruise ships in Palma. Considering the ships to pose a potential health risk, the platform insists that decisions regarding a reactivation of cruise tourism should be taken by the Balearic parliament and government and not by the Balearic Ports Authority (APB) and "multinational cruise companies".

The concerns are based on the nature of cruise shipping, which make it difficult to trace and isolate positive coronavirus cases. This is why there is a potential danger for ports where ships stop over and for passengers and crews. "Our concern increases when we observe the pressures to accelerate economic recovery with the motivation of creating jobs, while ignoring the risks of Covid-19 outbreaks as well as the environmental and social impacts."

The platform has requested a meeting with the spokespeople of parliamentary parties. It wants parliament to "unanimously" ask the APB to make public the health measures that it will be taking and its contingency plan in the event that anyone on board a ship is positive for coronavirus. It is also seeking a capacity limit for mega-cruise ships which arrive in Palma, as now - more than ever - there will be dangers from masses of passengers going into the city.

As things stand, leading cruise lines have suspended all operations. The duration of this suspension ranges from end-June to end-July.

Cruise ships Palma coronavirus

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2 comments

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Yogi | over 4 years ago

Imminent? I seriously doubt it. ( I hope). Anyone who’d go on one of those things needs a major psychiatric assessment as well a full Covid test, plus salmonella and noravirus. Then lock them up anyway because they MUST BE BARKING but not DISEMBARKING! ;)

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FRANKLY SPEAKING | over 4 years ago

Frankly, I would think twice before making uneducated statements like the above. First of all Cruise ships have the worlds most stringed sanitation protocols. Post COVID-19 they are elevated even further. Medical surveillance and contact tracing is hospitality industry leading. It's nice to make cruise industry who brings millions to the local economy a scape goat. Redirect your focus to the booze holidays in Magaluf and Arenal where you have sub standard hotels, sub standard bars and sub standard sanitation. Once this is done, then talk about cruise lines.

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