At least four cruise liners have cancelled their calls to West African ports in favour of ports in the Canary Islands and the Spanish mainland. Alan Lam reports.

Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn and Fred.Olsen have all modified their itineraries on account of the Ebola crisis in West Africa, diverting their vessels away from the region.

The Seven Seas Mariner will call at Tenerife and Lanzarote on 17th and 18th of October instead of Dakar, Senegal, during its 21-night cruise from Lisbon to Miami. Fred.Olsen’s Braemar will also change its itinerary: instead of calling at Dakar and Banjul, the ship will be diverted to the Canary Islands. Seabourn Sojourn will now call at Barcelona and other Spanish mainland ports.

To date, Senegal has only one reported case of Ebola. These cancellations are mainly precautionary. Regent Seven Seas stated that the line always put the safety and comfort of its guestsfirst and foremost.

In addition, Cruise & Maritime Voyages has abandoned a number of calls at West African ports on the return voyage from Australia and South Africa of its 20,636 gross ton Astor in the spring of 2015. The ship will call at ports in the Atlantic islands instead.

The crisis looks set to continue for quite some time; cruise lines are keeping a close watch at the situation.