UnCruise Adventures first sailing returns to port early due to positive COVID-19 test

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 05 August 2020 05 August 2020

The American owned, U.S. flagged small-boat adventure company, UnCruise Adventures, confirmed yesterday that a guest received a phone call from the State of Alaska with notification of a positive COVID-19 test while onboard. At the time of receipt, the Wilderness Adventurer was anchored in a secluded harbor while offboard activities were underway. The company’s first sailing received a high level of support this past week returning to sail with energized passengers. The vessel will arrive in Juneau tomorrow and all guests will be placed at a local hotel where they will quarantine as prescribed in the company’s Alaska state-approved COVID-19 contingency plan. 

“We are focusing all efforts on care of the guests, crew and the local community.” shares Owner and CEO, Dan Blanchard. “This is very discouraging news and not what we had hoped for, but we’ll deal with it professionally. The guests are taking the news well, and the crew has executed our contingency plan quickly.”

The identified guest took the 5-day testing option prior to their departure from home with a negative result as required to embark on UnCruise Adventures. A second test was taken upon arrival at the Juneau airport which then resulted in a positive. The guest is showing no symptoms and no other guests or crew are showing outward symptoms of any kind. Subsequently, all guests were informed and asked to restrict themselves to their cabins where plated meals were served.

The company understands that this unprecedented virus requires unprecedented standards and has planned extensive operations for months in preparation to return to sail. UnCruise Adventures continues to follow its approved contingency plan moving forward. The hotel and meal costs for all guests are being paid for by the company while in quarantine in Juneau. The crew will quarantine on the vessel in port at Juneau. 

The company’s top priority is to move swiftly to provide ongoing safety for the guests, crew, and the community of Juneau with Alaska State contact tracing protocols. They are working closely with Alaska state and local health officials to comply with relevant protocols and their own safety standards.

“With the spotlight on the cruise and small boat industry we understand there are risks in operating and travel in general. With months of preparation we were still able to pivot quickly in response to this event,” states Blanchard. “We wish to thank those that have worked rapidly to isolate and implement the appropriate processes as we determine the next steps.” he continues.

We wish to emphasize that UnCruise Adventures sees providing a safe and responsive environment for all travelers as imperative. All precautions were taken, as supported by public health authorities and interim guidelines. As an additional precaution, UnCruise Adventures has canceled future Alaska departures and their dedicated team is working with guests.

Hurtigruten CEO says COVID-19 protocols had not been followed

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 04 August 2020 04 August 2020

An outbreak of COVID-19 onboard Hurtigruten’s expedition cruise ship Roald Amundsen last week could have been avoided if protocols to combat the virus had been followed, said Daniel Skjeldam, CEO of the company.

“I shall begin by being completely honest. We have betrayed. We have failed. We have made mistakes. What we see now is not what Hurtigruten should represent or what it will be. We apologise this deeply,” Skjeldam said at a press conference on Monday that was webcast in Norwegian media.

He said it would be too early to go into every detail, but it had become clear that quarantine rules and a number of other procedures had not been followed, which had resulted in the outbreak of the virus. “Had we followed the procedures, we would not have had an outbreak onboard,” Skjeldam said in the webcast.

On Tuesday morning, the number of persons that had contacted the virus on Roald Amundsen rose to 40 as a passenger had treated positive, the Norwegian broadcasting company NRK reports on its website.

A local health authority had on Wednesday last week informed FHI, the Norwegian national health authority, that a person had fallen ill with the virus two days after disembarking Roald Amundsen.

“We had a meeting with Hurtigruten in which we explained that they should inform passengers on the current cruise and they confirmed to us that they would do this,” FHI department head Line Vold was quoted by NRK as saying.

“We were not informed that Hurtigruten after this had decided to change its standpoint and not to inform the passengers. It was only on Friday we understood that Hurtigruten had broken the agreement made at the meeting and decided not to inform the passengers,” she was quoted as saying.

AIDA forced to delay short cruise start on flag state issue

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 03 August 2020 03 August 2020

AIDA Cruises, the German unit in the Carnival Corporation & plc group, said it had been forced to cancel a number of planned short cruises from Rostock as it had not received final approval for its plans from Italy, the flag state of its fleet.

“The concepts and certifications for the restart of our cruise operation have been successfully developed and confirmed with the responsible authorities. Contrary to our expectations, the final formal approval for the start of the short trips from August 5, 2020 by our flag state Italy is still pending,” the company said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, we therefore have to cancel the planned short trips with AIDAperla and AIDAmar with departure dates between August 5 and 12, 2020,” AIDA Cruises said.

The company stated that after intensive preparations with the support of many national and international authorities and health experts, we have developed comprehensive concepts for the restart and implemented all increased hygiene standards and measures to protect against COVID-19 on board our ships.

“We assume that we will receive the last formal approval by the flag state Italy in a timely manner,” the company noted.

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company orders new ferry

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 02 August 2020 02 August 2020

On Friday, July 31, the Board of Directors signed a contract on behalf of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company with one of the world’s major shipbuilders, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD), based in Ulsan. It follows a week-long visit to Korea by senior personnel from the company, during which they visited the shipyard where the vessel will be built, viewed a recently completed ship to assess the standard of work and discussed technical and commercial considerations with HMD executives.

Work on physically constructing a replacement for the conventional ferry, Ben-my-Chree, is now due to start in mid-2021 after detailed plans are finalised and agreed between builder and buyer. The process began last autumn when the Company commissioned a tender exercise, during which a large number of shipyards around the world expressed an interest in building the bespoke vessel.

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Chief Executive Mark Woodward said: "For some time we have been conducting detailed analysis as we develop plans for major investment in our fleet. I am delighted to confirm that, following lengthy discussions with a leading shipyard in South Korea, we have confirmed specifications for the vessel and today signed a contract with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. This truly is an exciting time in our history and, in the year we marked our 190th anniversary, the new vessel will take the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company forward to our 200th anniversary and beyond."

The new vessel, expected to commence service in Spring 2023, will be an important part of the Company’s future plans, bringing high levels of on-board facilities and enhanced freight capability. The Company is also committed to maintaining a third back-up vessel, intended to be the Ben-my-Chree when the new vessel arrives, to enhance security of both passenger and freight links and also help increase capacity during the TT and Classic TT.

Woodward continued: "The final specification and build programme is still in development but it is expected the new vessel will be slightly larger than the Ben-my-Chree in most respects but with considerably more passenger space. It is also intended to be more environmentally efficient and manoeuvrable in poor conditions. Factoring in various technical and logistical considerations for a new vessel, and taking into account the recent public consultation exercise where possible, our aim for when we introduce the new addition is to ensure we provide an even higher level of service to the Island community and our customers."