No U.S. Bailout for Major Cruise Lines

7 posts were split to a new topic: American Exceptionalism

We shouldn’t and can’t be bailing out an industry that doesn’t play by the rules. There is zero responsibility for US taxpayers to foreign nationals to protect their jobs, as I wouldn’t expect Norwegians to protect US jobs. The ship operators have no problem doing everything they can to avoid contributing to the tax base, including building their ships in foreign shipyards, FOC and hiring foreign crews. They can appeal to whatever flag they’re flying for help.

I would also argue about the amount of revenue they bring to the communities they sail from. Most of these passengers are not sticking around to shop in these communities, they merely get onboard their ship and fly or drive home after they get back.

Other parts of the maritime industry are capable of operating Jones Act vessels and should be part of this economic package. We’re all suffering here, but this time the US needs to be taking care of American companies that have contributed to our prosperity, not the parasites that operate in gray areas. The agents, stores and bunker suppliers, taxi companies, US airlines and other peripheral businesses that are legitimate taxpayers and contributors to the US economy and are not part of this argument.

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Gotta laugh, Sir Richard builds a couple of hulks and sails them into this shit storm hoping to fill them up with the younger types with no kids so they can sit around the pool (septic tank) swap spit and catch a virus. Sounds like a dream vacation. Good luck with that one if you are a bond holder.

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And you thought it was just Florida they infect?

The Dominican Republic turned away the Braemar at the end of February due to health officials’ concerns about flu-like symptoms reported on board. But in a move typical of an industry that tends to play island nations against one another, the cruise company called the decision an “overreaction” and found a friendly port in St. Maarten. Passengers disembarked and new ones filed on board.

From there, the Braemar headed to Cartagena, Colombia, where an American who disembarked became the first recorded coronavirus case in the city. Four crew members and one passenger tested positive on a stop in Curaçao. Meanwhile, in Canada, Alberta’s chief medical officer revealed that a Braemar passenger had tested positive after returning home from the ship. As the crisis continued to unfold on board, Barbados turned the Braemar away, and it headed toward the Bahamas, the country whose flag the ship flies, home to one of the busiest Caribbean island cruise ports.

Emails leaked to the Miami New Times by a Norwegian Cruise Line employee showed a manager pressuring sales staff to lie to potential customers about the risk of the virus, telling them, for example, that “the coronavirus can only survive in cold temperatures, so the Caribbean is a fantastic choice for your next cruise.”

Wow if this is true and verifiable the lawsuits are going to be ungodly. Bankruptcy in the future for NCL?

This came out in the media on March 11 as well as the State Department’s instruction to avoid cruise ships.

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The whole industry is disgusting.

They knowingly moved coronavirus passengers in and out of several countries. If a country tried to stop a coronavirus infected ship from pulling in the company would threaten to take their business to other ports. Several small Caribbean countries were first infected by cruise ship passengers. All the while the industry lied and bullied to continue business as usual.

Fuck the passengers. Fuck the locals. It was all money, money, money.

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Not just NCL, trash the whole stinking ot of them. As long as it involves selling off all the ships and replacing all senior managers bankruptcy might be acceptable. Hopefully the lawsuits will leave the real owners living in a trailer park somewhere.

NCL is owned by a Malaysian tycoon living in HK. Lot of other interests in the cruse and casino industries:

Hardly likely that any of the Lim family will end up in a trailer park in the US.

Some of the small share holders in NCL MAY do so though.

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Cruise line will the be big losers in the Trump bailout program. Democrats to thank for blocking the Cruise companies from getting anything:

If your point is that if they want US corporate welfare they should register their ships in the US, I totally agree.

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Without mentioning the fact that those 421,000 people probably only make about 0.1 percent of their income from the cruise industry. Very very few American taxpayers will suffer the loss of that filthy industry. Except for some workers in the pseudo American “headquarters” there are only a handful who depend on them for survival.

I live and own a marine business in Fort Lauderdale, my neighboring marine business provides shoreside services to the cruise ships. I asked them if they were hurt by the lockdown on the cruise ships. The answer was no, they lost some business but the rest of the shipping industry provides all the work they need. Yes, they will miss a part of their income but now they can handle more profitable operations.

The cruise industry is not famous for paying those “supported” business a great deal of money. They are cheap parasites who will screw anyone anytime to make a dime more in profit. Let them fail, they earned it. CLIA’s propaganda department is working overtime to make gullible fools and ignorant cruise “guests” believe the business is worth supporting.

At least now the Australians are waking up:

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Exactly. The one sentence way to sum up this whole thread.

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They aren’t getting anything because they don’t deserve it. Why is it so hard for that to get through your brain? I doubt any nation is providing financial assistance to foreign corporations. Your opinion of the fairness in corporate funding means nothing here, because you are neither an American citizen, nor a US taxpayer. Go away.

I know that the people running cruise ships are not popular here, Americans or not.

But as most of the members on the forum are seafarer (past or present) there should at least be some solidarity with the crews on these ships off US and foreign ports around the world:

Many are now stranded on board their ships, not knowing when they will be able to go home.

I know that very few are US citizen, but they are fellow seafarers and colleagues…

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Crew: Yes

Corporation: No

Why won’t Norway bail out those cruise lines? I’m sure there’s enough money in those sovereign wealth funds to prop up those corporations and pay out large CEO bonuses. :dizzy_face:

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Let Carnival charter flights to repatriate the crews or sail the ships to a port nearest the crewmember’s home of record. This is not an American problem. It is a problem created by a filthy parasitic industry that is trying every trick to pass the results of its greed on to someone else.

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They can go home anytime they want.

Who is taking about the cruise lines?
I’m talking about solidarity for our fellow seafarer that is stranded on board ships because of a virus and for no fault of their own.

Nice to see that you support the crews

I don’t know why you picked Norway to bail out the cruise line and CEOs?
Norway is using it’s sovereign fund to bail out Norwegian companies and pay workers that becomes jobless, but that does not involve any of the cruise lines mentioned in this forum.
(Norwegian Cruise lines (NCL) is not Norwegian owned)

Viking Ocean Cruises is using Norwegian flag and the Owner is of Norwegian origin (live in Switzerland) The HQ is in Los Angeles, USA:

They have terminated all activity for the time being:

If the crew are going to be able to be repatriated of course the ships would have to be allowed into safe port and the crews allowed to disembark. (Nobody want crew-less cruise ships drifting off their coast)

All expenses will have to be paid for by the Owner/Operator of the ships (or the P&I Club eventually)
Since the crew members are of many different nationalities they don’t have one “port of record”.

It is not an American problem now, but it may become one if passengers and crews start to die while waiting for permission to dock in US ports.

The same applies for other countries that refuse to help ships requesting assistance per international maritime law and customs. (Or do you think it is OK to let people (incl. Americans) die on your doorsteps.

We are Mariners, not politician. We help people in peril upon the seas, no matter what…

The ships should sail to a port in their flag state. Let the owners negotiate terms of repatriation with their maritime authority. They have no fundamental right to hang out on our doorstep and pretend there is some humanitarian reason why the American taxpayer has to deal with their greed. The cruise companies can afford to fly everyone except watchstanders home at their expense. We don’t need them polluting our waters.

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