ARTICLE FROM THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE, May 3, 2020 — Crew repatriation is a major challenge for all vessel operators in the COVID-19 era, and cruise ships have more crewmembers per vessel than virtually any other type of ship. Carnival Cruise Line has found a comprehensive solution to this problem: rather than disembarking crewmembers onto U.S. soil for charter flights home, it is sailing them back with its own idled cruise ships. The plan would appear to resolve a reported disagreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control over terms and guarantees for crew disembarkation in the United States. It will also reduce wage costs at a time when cruise lines have no revenue from operations.
Over the next several days, eighteen Carnival Cruise Line ships will rendezvous at a position off of The Bahamas. Selected crewmembers will transfer between these ships using tenders. After the transfer, nine of the ships will depart with more than 10,000 crewmembers to return them to their home countries. The remaining nine ships will anchor off The Bahamas or Panama with reduced manning levels.
“The safety and well-being of our team members continues to be a top priority. Given the pause in our operations, we are committed to getting our crew members safely home to their families. We sincerely thank them for their hard work, patience and understanding during this process. We would also like to thank the government of The Bahamas for their support of this operation, as well as the CDC, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and local port agencies,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. See full article at https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/photos-carnival-deploys-nine-ships-to-repatriate-crewmembers?fbclid=IwAR2rDnYrfxKMYe9D1RZLsZOV-BAFDyErToBWxvHtJKVDuYSZVqiDw_Vq4mQ
