Cruise Ship SeaDream II underway near Bitter End / Virgin Gorda. Photo by Peter Thomas via Marine Traffic.
By Nora Buli (Reuters) – Norwegian-owned cruise-ship operator SeaDream Yacht Club has canceled all sailing for the remainder of 2020 after positive COVID-19 test results onboard one of its cruises, it said on Tuesday, dealing a fresh blow to the cruise industry.
The decision follows an outbreak of the novel coronavirus aboard a voyage of its SeaDream I vessel in the Caribbean last week.
“7 guests and 2 crew members have tested positive for Covid-19 by Barbados health authorities,” SeaDream said in a statement.
Requirements for multiple negative PCR tests from guests before boarding had not been sufficient to prevent COVID-19 onboard, it said.
“The company will now spend time to evaluate and see if it is possible to operate and have a high degree of certainty of not getting COVID,” it said.
SeaDream Yacht Club said in September it planned to become the first luxury cruise operator to resume sailing in the West Indies, with 22 voyages planned from Nov. 7 onwards.
By contrast, most U.S. cruise operators have suspended their operations until the end of 2020, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said on Nov. 3.
Cruise ships were home to some of the earliest clusters of infections of the novel coronavirus as it spread globally early this year, shutting down much of the cruise industry.
SeaDream Yacht Club, founded by Norwegian investor Atle Brynestad, operates two luxury vessels, each with a capacity of up to 112 passengers.
(Reporting by Nora Buli Editing by Robert Birsel, Reuters)
Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.
Join the 109,196 members that receive our newsletter.
Have a news tip? Let us know.
A Norwegian shipping company on Friday rejected an accusation from Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, that it refused to rescue sailors from a sinking Russian cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
Israel struck multiple targets in Yemen it said were controlled by Houthis, the last of the Iran-backed groups still fully engaged in the regional war that began 14 months ago.
China said on Monday it had provided information and documents for an open investigation into the severing of two Baltic Sea undersea cables, though it and Sweden disagreed over how transparent Beijing had been in the case.
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 109,196 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
