Up to 100,000 cruise workers stranded at sea amid pandemic, report claims
An estimated 100,000 cruise ship crew members are currently stuck at sea amid the coronavirus pandemic, it was reported on Sunday.
Two staff members are known to have taken their own lives by jumping overboard, the Miami Herald said.
While passengers on the cruise ships were evacuated by April, many of the crews remain onboard ships docked around the world or anchored off the coast - some without pay.
Rockford Weitz, director of the Maritime Studies Program at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, said there was “no excuse” for keeping the staff onboard, and that the cruise companies - already threatened by the virus - were risking significant reputational damage.
“They have to be able to convince their customers they can find solutions and work constructively with public health authorities," he said. "There’s no excuse for not finding the way home.”
Cruise companies shut down on March 13, with many expecting the outbreak to end swiftly.
On April 9, however, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) banned cruise ships from operating in US waters until the end of July.
Repatriating the crew members has been hampered by some countries completely shutting their borders and cancelling all flights. Roger Frizzell, spokesman for Carnival Cruise Line, said the process was extremely complicated.
“Our goal has been to repatriate our crew members as quickly as possible, but that has proven to be much more difficult in recent weeks because of port closures, country closures and global travel restrictions,” he said.
“As a result, there have been numerous complications and challenges. For example, we have 7,500 Filipinos on our ships in Manila, currently waiting to be allowed to go ashore.”
At least 578 cruise ship employees have contracted the virus and seven have died, the paper said.
Meshal Habib, 48, from Romania, is currently on board the Grand Celebration, owned by Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. He has not been paid since March, and said the company has told him it cannot afford private flights home for him.
“I pay rent for my parents and my sister,” he said. “I need to go home to work.” Gan Sungaralingum, 38, from Mauritius, is currently onboard Carnival’s Sky Princess, which is docked in Cape Town.
Mauritius is refusing to allow him to return and he does not know when or where he will disembark. “At least at home I will have my family," he said. “Here I am in a prison.”
Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line said it has repatriated around 100 people.
