'Stranded at sea': cruise ships around the world are adrift as ports turn them away

No dumping obviously but an orderly disembarkation.

Not really, KLM has a fleet of airliners and has (had?) a regular schedule into Sint Maarten. Flag state airliine, flag state and company problem. They can disembark the US passengers and charter an American flight back for them.

Sint Maarten is closer to the Canal than Fort Lauderdale by about 300 miles. Why bypass a great airport and anchorage in a flag state location?

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Believe it when I see it.

Oh shit. I love it! Finally.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/coast-guard-tells-cruises-to-prepare-to-care-for-sick-people-for-indefinite-period/ar-BB11ZoEY

The U.S. Coast Guard is now directing ships registered in the Bahamas to seek aid from that country first — even if the ships are owned by Miami-based companies.

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Believe what?

That they go to Sint Maarten. It is too logical. Bahamas, impossible.

Oops… St Maarten airport.

Clever people the Dutch, they have moved the airport from Sint Maarten to Greece. That’s a hell of a long bus ride to the terminal.

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USA as a super power should act like one and assist all of these sick passengers, regardless of Flag or nationality. With some of the ports operating on a diminished capacity, why couldn’t a make shift hospital be set up in the Port? If China can build hospitals in 10 days. why can’t the USA use current infrastructure to accommodate?

Why couldn’t Carnival have sent Zaandam to the closest Dutch colony where the passengers could be repatriated within hours of arrival rather than spending more time at sea heading toward a port that doesn’t want them?

Do you think it had anything to do with the fact that the ticket the passengers bought said the cruise would start and stop at Fort Lauderdale and by staying at sea longer to drop them in Lauderdale they will be able to claim they fulfilled the contract and owe the passengers nothing, certainly not a flight home. Not to mention that the next cruise is scheduled to depart from Lauderdale, wouldn’t do to have the ship anchored in Sint Maarten or enroute to Rotterdam would it?

Like I have mentioned before, the greatest contribution to the American treasury is the enormous fines for repeated environmental crimes. The cruise industry is a filthy business by any measure.

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The legal eagles will be dusting off their briefs. Young lawyers in their late twenties will still be dealing with this when in their sixties.

Sadly, I agree Hogsnort.

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You’re forgetting Bonaire. The B of the ABC islands.

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And there are two more Dutch islands: Sint Eustatius and Saba, so bring it on…

I picked Aruba and Curacao because they are the closest to the Panama canal. In any case the ships have several better options than homesteading outside Miami waiting for help they’ve been told cannot be provided.

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I’ve spent time in the Netherlands and I have a genuine liking and respect for the Dutch people. I still have close friends there, we stay in touch. I don’t see them on board with HA’s plan to go sniff around SE Florida standing by for a miracle that ain’t gonna happen.
I am waiting for the Dutch government to step in and shake these assholes by the collar. They have everything they need to help themselves; ships, airplanes, and a group of islands to operate from. HA’s insistence on following a pre-planned itinerary using human lives as currency is sickening.

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https://homeport.uscg.mil/Lists/Content/Attachments/62863/MSIB%2020-001%20COVID-19%20Cruiseship%20Medical%20Capabilities_Signed.29Mar20.pdf

I agree with you with the freeloading cruise companies do. However, they also support thousands of jobs and suppliers in the USA ports…and I believe somebody on here was rationalizing megayacht owner behavior stating they support jobs and dump tons of money into the local economy. I feel they all are just pretty scumbagish.

Change in plans?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-says-florida-will-evacuate-stranded-cruise-ships/ar-BB121UcN

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that US authorities will evacuate passengers from a stranded cruise ship due to dock in Florida after being barred from several South American countries because of a coronavirus outbreak aboard.

Both the cruise ship Zaandam, where dozens of people have fallen ill, and its sister ship Rotterdam are due to enter US waters early Thursday ahead of their expected docking in Fort Lauderdale.

Trump said the US was ā€œsending medical teams on board the shipsā€ and taking people off, with foreigners sent home.

About 1,200 passengers who are not ill would be sent home on charter planes. They will be ā€œtransported in coaches that will be sanitized, with limited person-to-person contact and while wearing masks,ā€ the company said.

Some 45 people with mild symptoms will remain aboard in isolation until they recover and 10 people requiring critical care will be taken ashore for treatment locally, the company said.

What kind of ā€œbehaviorā€ are you talking about? Is owning a yacht a form of unacceptable behavior? Is some form of personal ā€œbad behaviorā€ somehow connected to yacht ownership? Should those behaviors preclude ownership of houses, cars, horses, airplanes, fishing rods? What limits should be applied to people with ā€œbad behaviorā€?

So Trump is stepping over the CG?