Florida in Discussions to Allow Holland America Ships to Dock

Travelers across the world have seen their trips disrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic with many being flown home early from their vacations and thousands more seeing their breaks being canceled.

Those who are allowed to come home are facing strict rules before entering the country, but at least they can come home.

Passengers on cruise ships around the world have been confined to their vessels as countries refuse to let them dock.

Currently there are two Holland America Line liners anchored off the coast of Florida as America refuses to allow them to disembark due to the ships having hundreds of passengers and crew members suffering from covid-19.

The Rotterdam and Zaandam have both reached Florida and have been waiting for final clearance to disembark however this has come after lengthy discussions with the local authorities on how to handle passengers who have reportedly shown ‘influenza-like illness symptoms’ dating back to 22 March.

So far eight of the guests had been tested positive for the virus while four of the ‘older’ guests of the Zaandam had passed away within a week.

Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have been against allowing any ships to dock in Fort Lauderdale. DeSantis has claimed allowing such a move would be ‘a mistake’ as well as raising his concerns that the state’s health care system would not be able to cope with the high number of ill passengers and crew members.

However DeSantis has been called out by President Trump who reportedly told him Florida should be allowing the ship to dock. “They’re dying on the ship.” Said Trump. “I’m going to do what’s right, not only for us but for humanity.”

A day later DeSantis confirmed that no decision had been made by officials stating:

“I obviously am not in control of the port that is run by the counties, in this case, Broward County, and I know they’re in consultation with the cruise ships. Clearly, we’re going to be willing to accept any Floridians that are on board. My understanding is that most of the passengers are foreign nationals. I think that they’re working on ways to deal with that.”

The ships had both been refused permission to enter United State waters as Broward’s Unified Command was waiting for a ‘suitable plan’ to be sent in. DeSantis confirmed the same day that officials were ‘working on a plan’ to allow the Florida residents into the state while expatriating all foreign nationals saying they were “concerned about a deluge into our hospitals” although he also confirmed the local hospitals were prepared to cope with the high number of cases.

Just a day later Udine confirmed that the Carnival Corporation – owners of the Holland America Line – had come to a conditional agreement, tweeting:

“Unified Command conferenced last night and reached cond. approval of Carnival’s Plan, subject to approval between Broward and Carnival. Final document will be released this morning. As of now, ships remain outside US Waters. Look forward to seeing a SAFE plan for all to resolve.”

He also defended the comments that his department had previously made, stating they had not received a plan from the cruise line for disembarkation, claiming the company appeared to want to “just drop people off and let them fly home.”

Both of the liners are now just outside of American waters near Fort Lauderdale and will continue to stay there until they receive permission to dock. In a statement Holland America Line said:

“We remain fully engaged with the Broward Unified Command and other governmental and embassy authorities to resolve this humanitarian situation and get the nearly 1,200 well guests home immediately who are fit for travel per guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),”

“We appreciate the support of President Trump in resolving the humanitarian plight of our guests — 311 of whom are American citizens and 52 of whom are residents of Florida.”

It is believed that out of all the sick passengers ‘less than 10’ were in need of immediate critical care although a further 45 were showing mild symptoms, meaning they were unable to travel.

Holland America suspended all cruise operations on 13 March with the Zaandam’s current voyage due to run from 7 March to 21 March. Passengers and crew started showing symptoms a day after the end date.

The Rotterdam was dispatched with supplies and covid-19 testing kits to the Zaandam however they too had passengers that started to develop symptoms. Although they had four “older” passengers die it is not yet clear yet what were the causes.

Between the two ships there are more than 2,400 passengers and crew who have been told to stay in their cabins until they are allowed to disembark although when that will be is still unclear.