Costa Cruises cancels all of its voyages around the world until April over coronavirus outbreak
- Costa Cruises ocean liners will suspend operation until April 3 amid the outbreak
- Aim is to ‘protect is health & safety of guests, crew and destinations,’ Costa said
- It added safe and smooth operations had ‘become significantly complex’
- Virus scares at sea meant Costa Fortuna turned away from Phuket this month
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Costa Cruises is suspending all of its operations around the world until April 3 over the coronavirus outbreak.
The announcement was made on Friday as governments ramp up measures to contain the spread of the virus and a WHO official declared Europe the new ‘epicentre’ of the illness.
It comes as several of the Italian company’s liners have been blocked in recent weeks over suspected or confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
The company has already suspended cruises in the Mediterranean.
File image of the Costa Smeralda. Costa Cruises is suspending all of its cruises around the world until April 3 over the coronavirus outbreak
‘Costa Cruises announces today that it will voluntarily put on hold the global operations of ships, impacting voyages until April 3,’ the company said in a statement.
The aim is to ‘protect is health and safety of guests, crew and destinations,’ it added.
Costa is part of Carnival Corporation, the world’s biggest cruise line group, which announced on Thursday it would halt voyages on the 18 ships of its Princess Cruises for two months.
Costa, whose 11 cruise ships have capacity for thousands of passengers, said safe and smooth operations had ‘become significantly complex’ with challenging logistics and increased restrictions adopted by several countries.
It said cruises under way will end ‘only to allow guests to disembark and return to their home,’ adding it was informing travel agents and next customers about the cancellations and that they will be refunded.
The cruise ship Costa Fortuna (file photo) was denied permission to dock on the island of Phuket because 64 people on board had been in Italy in the last 14 days, Thai media said
The cruise sector has enjoyed strong recent growth and had forecast it would carry close on 32 million passengers worldwide this year.
But the coronavirus outbreak has hit it amidships, with 3,711 people aboard the Carnival Corporation-owned Diamond Princess notably forced into quarantine off Yokohama, Japan, in early February and around 700 passengers becoming infected.
Six passengers on the ship – all elderly and with underlying conditions – died from the virus.
At one point, the outbreak on the Princess constituted the worst outbreak outside of mainland China until world leaders decided to evacuate their citizens almost two weeks after isolation started.
Health authorities around the world have become wary of ocean liners after a spate of virus scares at sea.
Earlier this month, the Costa Fortuna was denied permission to dock on the island of Phuket in Thailand over coronavirus fears, after authorities raised the alarm over dozens of Italian passengers.
The Silver Shadow is being held at Recife port in Pernambuco, Brazil, while the Canadian passenger is tested. The results are expected in the coming days
All 318 passengers and 291 crew on board the Silver Shadow have been ordered to isolate in their cabins awaiting results
The pier that the Silver Shadow has been docked on has also been isolated
The cruise ship Silver Shadow operated by Silversea carrying 609 passengers was forced into isolation in Brazil after a 78-year-old passenger was evacuated with a cough and fever.
The Canadian man was rushed off the ship on Thursday after he showed symptoms consistent with coronavirus. He has been tested for the virus by authorities.
As it awaits the results, the Silver Shadow has been held at the port of Recife, in Brazil’s north-eastern state of Pernambuco, today and the remaining 318 passengers and 291 crew have been ordered to isolate in their cabins.
The pier the ship is docked on has also been isolated.