ruben.maritime

MIAMI 11 December – Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, has delayed its next departure after repeated outbreaks of norovirus. According to a statement by RCCL, the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) officially recommended that the vessel not sail as scheduled on 10 December, and that it instead undergo additional sanitising. RCCL said it will follow the CDC recommendation, departing on 12 December on a shortened five-day cruise to Jamaica and Labadee, Haiti. On its 26 November to 3 December voyage, 338 of the Freedom’s 3,823 passengers and 43 of its 1,400 crew suffered gastrointestinal illness. On the subsequent 3-10 December cruise, 97 of the 3,907 passengers and 11 crew members fell ill. In addition to special cleaning in co-ordination with CDC before tomorrow’s departure, heightened sanitation procedures will be in place throughout this week’s cruise. Beyond the Freedom of the Seas situation, more than 100 passengers and crew were also reported to have become ill aboard Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess, which returned to Port Everglades this weekend. It appears increasingly likely that 2006 will end up as the worst year ever for norovirus, with 34 outbreaks so far and additional incidents being reported on a weekly basis.

Etiquetas: cruises, illness, international maritime affairs

This entry was posted on martes, diciembre 12, 2006 at 7:12 a. m.. You can skip to the end and leave a response.