Shipping companies Norwegian and Royal Caribbean created a panel of health experts working on the reopening plan to present to the health authorities of U.S with a view to the resumption of cruises, suspended since last March due to the pandemic of the COVID-19.
The so-called “Healthy Sail Panel” is composed, among others, by former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, who was secretary of the United States Department of Health (HHS) during the George W. Bush Administration (2001-2009), the shipping companies.
They noted that the “Panel for Healthy Navigation,” comprised of experts in public health, infectious diseases, biosecurity, hospitality, and maritime operations, will develop health and safety protocols to stop the spread of COVID-19 during these trips.
Since last March, cruise companies have stopped their operations in the United States by order of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the country, which will only allow the resumption of navigation when sanitary conditions are given.
In Florida, where several of the headquarters of the largest shipping companies are located, the health crisis caused by COVID-19 has already surpassed 200,000 confirmed cases, most in Southeast Florida, where major ports such as Miami and Everglades are located.
Both shipping companies said the panel has been working for a month and expect it to present its first recommendations in late August.
They specified that their work may be adopted “freely” by other cruise companies “so that they can benefit from the scientific and medical knowledge of these renowned specialists.”
“We compete daily in the business of attracting clients to enjoy their vacations, but we have never entered a competition related to health and safety protocols,” said Frank Del Río, President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
Kelly Craighead, president of the International Association of Cruise Lines (CLIA), applauded the initiative.
CLIA recalled that its affiliates voluntarily agreed to extend the suspension of their operations from US ports until September 15 due to COVID-19.
“We are facing an unprecedented situation that requires the development of unique standards in health and safety,” said Richard D. Fain, president and CEO of the Royal Caribbean Group.
This company plans to resume its trips from ports in the United States from mid-September.
Physician Scott Gottlieb, who chairs the panel of experts, acknowledged that the public health problems ahead “are complex” and noted that addressing them will require innovative approaches in some areas.
Gottlieb was commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 2017 and 2019, and served as the deputy commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs of that agency between 2005 and 2007.
Fain and Del Río said that one of the objectives of this panel is to ensure that the protocols to be presented to CDC and other regulators “contain the best available knowledge of public health, science and engineering.”
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