Americans are among thousands of cruise ship workers stuck at sea because of a CDC order issued in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. But the CDC says it’s up to cruise liners to ensure they meet the legal safety requirements during the pandemic.
The big picture: The CDC said in its No Sail Order extension announcement on April 9 that the Coast Guard was monitoring some 120 cruise ships in U.S. waters with nearly 80,000 crew members on board and this is still the case, per CBS News, which reported Wednesday 132 Americans were “marooned on cruise ships owned by Carnival Cruise Line companies” — including nine aboard the Oosterdam who were denied disembarkation at Los Angeles Tuesday.
Coronavirus: Oosterdam Cruise Ship Off Coast Of LA In Lockdown (US CBS) https://t.co/EfwqRKjTgY pic.twitter.com/NtaUF2KgBw
— ENEX Newsroom (@enexnewsroom) April 29, 2020
Details: The American crew of the Holland America Line ship the Oosterdam appealed for help after they were prevented them from disembarking in L.A., according to USA Today, which notes the liner’s passengers left the vessel in March and that there were no coronavirus cases on the ship.
- Some of the staff have been on the liner that docked at the Port of San Pedro since Feb. 21, crew member Melinda Mann, from Georgia, told Fox 11. at least 132 other Americans marooned on cruise ships owned by Carnival Cruise Line companies.
- “I’m not sick. I’ve offered to take a COVID test. I’ve offered to quarantine for 2 weeks ashore, but the CDC won’t let us in, and our ship is trying everything they can to get us home,” Mann told the news outlet.
What they’re saying: The CDC told Fox 11 under the No Sail Order, “cruise lines must develop and implement a comprehensive plan to prevent, detect, respond, and contain COVID-19 on cruise ships for both passengers and crew.” It noted the disembarkations were approved for other cruise lines that met these requirements in the past two weeks.
- “The refusal of Holland America and Carnival executives to attest to safe disembarkation conditions is the reason why CDC did not approve disembarkation for the Oosterdam crew,” the CDC said. “In conversations with CDC, an official of the companies complained that arranging nonpublic transportation for its disembarking crew was too expensive.”
The other side: Holland America said in a statement to news outlets that “no crew were permitted to disembark from Oosterdam” on Tuesday and the firm was continuing to work with the CDC “to obtain approval to disembark crew in the U.S. for immediate return home under their current No Sail Order which does not allow us to do so at this time, including for U.S. citizens.”
Go deeper: Carnival CEO defends coronavirus response