Major cruise lines collaborate on Covid-19 safety strategy

Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are collaborating to develop enhanced cruise health and safety standards in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The companies have asked a group of experts to join the Healthy Sail Panel to make recommendations for cruise lines on public health and safety in preparation for the safe resumption of operations.

The expert panel has been working for nearly a month and will offer its initial recommendations by the end of August.

The cruise lines said the panel’s work can be freely adopted by any company or industry that would benefit from its scientific and medical insights.

Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain said: "This unprecedented disease requires us to develop unprecedented standards in health and safety.

"Bringing aboard these respected experts to guide us forward demonstrates our commitment to protecting our guests, our crews and the communities we visit."

NCL president and CEO Frank Del Rio added: "We compete for the vacationing consumer’s business every day, but we never compete on health and safety standards.

"While the cruise industry has always had rigorous health standards, the unique challenges posed by COVID-19 provide an opportunity to raise the bar even higher."

The panel has been welcomed by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

Its president and CEO Kelly Craighead said: "Health and safety are the highest priority for all CLIA cruise line members as demonstrated by this initiative on the part of two of our largest members. We commend this and parallel efforts of all of our members, large and small, who are working tirelessly to develop appropriate protocols based on input from health authorities and medical experts in the US and abroad.

Fain and Del Rio said they initiated the panel to assure the plans they will submit to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other regulators apply the best available public health, science and engineering insights. The work of the panel will be shared with the whole industry and regulators.

The panel’s members are globally recognised experts from various disciplines, including public health, infectious disease, biosecurity, hospitality and maritime operations.

The panel is co-chaired by Governor Mike Leavitt, former Secretary of the US Department Health and Human Services (HHS), and Dr Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Governor Leavitt said: "We view our work as a profoundly important public health effort. The health and safety of passengers, crew, and the communities that cruise ships visit will be the principal focus of this project."