ORLANDO, Florida – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued new cruise ship engineering guidelines to continue the return to sailing.
All major cruise lines departing from U.S. ports are subject to the CDC Conditional Sailing Ordinance, which was enacted last October in lieu of a no-sail order issued in March 2020. This includes setting up a test infrastructure on board and on land as well as performing simulated trips before a line can sail again with paying customers.
However, the cruise industry has asked for more guidance on how to get to these steps. The new guidelines promise to bring cruise ships closer to a return to business.
“CDC is committed to working with the cruise industry and seaport partners to resume cruising when it is safe to do so,” said a statement on the new technical guidelines.
The next steps, which the CDC is now referring to as Step 2A of a four-step plan, is that the cruise lines must have:
– Increase in reporting frequency of COVID-19 cases and diseases from weekly to daily.
– Perform routine tests of all crew members based on the color status of each ship.
– Updated the color coding system to classify ship status related to COVID-19.
– Reduced the time it takes a “red” ship to go “green” from 28 to 14 days based on the availability of onboard tests, routine screening test protocols and daily reports.
– Prepare planning documents for agreements that need to be approved by port authorities and local health authorities to ensure that cruise ships have the necessary infrastructure to cope with a COVID-19 outbreak on their ships that are exposed.
– Prepare a plan and schedule for vaccination of crew and port personnel.
The new guidelines are the first mention of vaccination and do not require the crew or port workers to be vaccinated.
However, in its statement, the CDC suggests that the more potential port workers and passengers are vaccinated, the faster this process will happen.
“The COVID-19 vaccination effort will be critical to the safe resumption of passenger operations,” said the CDC. “As more people become fully vaccinated, the step-by-step approach enables the CDC to incorporate these advances into planning to resume cruise shipping when it is safe to do so. CDC recommends that all eligible port workers and travelers (passengers and crew) receive a COVID-19 vaccine, if one is available to them. “
Cruise ships have been at the center of several deadly outbreaks in the first few months of 2020, including several ships preventing passengers from disembarking. One of the worst was Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess, which killed 14 people. These issues resulted in both the cruise industry voluntarily closing last March, as well as the CDC sails-no command.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a discussion in Port Canaveral last month with cruise guides from Royal Caribbean, Disney, Norwegian, Carnival, MSC Cruises and other politicians calling on the CDC to take the next steps to reopen the industry. He pointed out that several lines have already started the safe resumption of sailing in other markets around the world. That discussion was based on a letter signed by two Florida senators and other elected officials to the CDC asking for more guidance.
At the beginning of March, the Cruise Lines International Association asked the CDC to completely cancel the conditional sail order by July. However, the CDC replied that it intended to keep the order, which doesn’t expire until November 1, 2021, but would see some changes.
The new guide maintains its 74 points, but means that cruise lines now have at least the next few steps towards the ultimate goal of a full return.
“Driving safely and responsibly during a global pandemic is difficult,” the statement said. “While cruises always pose some risk to the transmission of COVID-19, following the phases of the (conditional sail order) ensures that cruise ship passenger operations are carried out in such a way that crew members, passengers and port staff are protected, especially if new ones emerge COVID -19 worrying variants. “