Coast Guard: 93,000 Crew Members Still Stuck on Cruise Ships Off United States – gCaptain
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A Coast Guard Station Ft. Lauderdale boat crew escorts the cruise ship Zaandam to Port Everglades April 2, 2020.
U.S. Coast Guard Photo
As cruise ships drawdown the number of passengers remaining on board, concern is growing for the tens of thousands of crew members, mostly foreign nationals, who remain stuck on board these ships in or near U.S. territorial waters.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday revealed staggering new figures about the number of passengers disembarked from cruise ships in the United States since the coronavirus pandemic started to wreak havoc on the industry.
Over the last three weeks, the Coast Guard says it has processed more than 120 vessels, collectively disembarking 250,000 passengers onto U.S. soil, including the 1,200 or so passengers offloaded from MS Zaandam and MS Rotterdam in Port Everglades, Florida last week.
The removal of passengers from these vessel comes after the international cruise ship industry announced an initial 30-day suspension on sailings, with many of the major cruise lines now extending the suspension through at least the end of April.
Although the drawdown of passengers stuck on board cruise ships is viewed as a major milestone in one of the areas hardest hit by the virus (i.e., cruise ships), what remains alarming now is the number of crew members who still remain stuck on board these ships.
According to the Coast Guard, as of Sunday there were 114 cruise ships still carrying 93,000 crew members either in or near U.S. ports and waters. This includes 73 cruise ships with a combined 53,000 crew members either moored or anchored in U.S. ports and another 41 ships with 41,000 crew members still underway in the vicinity of the United States.
Ultimately, however, it is the obligation of the cruise lines for the care, safety and welfare of their seafarers, the Coast Guard says.