There will be no major cruises in Canada this year, as the Canadian government has extended its ban on cruise operations until February 2022.
The extended ban complicates cruise operators’ efforts to resume sailing in North America this year, prolonging its hiatus as voyages stopped in March 2020 due to outbreaks of coronavirus on ships. The ban is scheduled to expire later this month.
The Canadian measure applies to cruise ships carrying 100 or more people and prohibits access for passenger ships carrying more than 12 people in Arctic coastal waters, including Nunatsiavut, Nunavik and the Labrador Coast, said Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra . Recreational craft are also barred from entering Arctic waters, he added.
“Temporary bans for cruise ships and pleasure craft are essential to continue to protect the most vulnerable in our communities and to avoid overwhelming our health care systems,” Mr Alghabra said. “This is the right and responsible thing.”
Cruises in US regions, such as New England and Alaska, usually stop in Canada. Canadian ports reported visits from more than 1 million cruise passengers in 2019, mainly to Vancouver and ports in the Canadian maritime provinces.
Members of the International Cruise Lines Association served 29.7 million passengers in 2019, more than half of whom came from North America.
The extended ban is the latest in a series of measures taken by the Canadian government to curb travel to and from the country, in an attempt to mitigate the spread of new coronavirus variants. Although the number of Covid-19 cases is peaking in early January, vaccine launches in Canada have been much slower than expected. The rate of Canadian vaccinations lags behind the most advanced economies, including the United States and the United Kingdom
Those who violate the passenger ship ban could be fined up to C $ 1 million, the equivalent of about $ 779,000, incarcerated for up to 18 months or both, the government said. Cruise ships carrying 100 or fewer people will be subject to the protocols of local health authorities, the government said.
Arctic boats used for essential transport, subsistence fishing, harvesting and hunting will not be subject to the measures, according to the government.
Carnival Cruise Line Operators, Royal Caribbean Group RCL 2.05%
and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
NCLH 3.35%
they abandoned their navigations in the USA until April 30. Carnival Body.
CCL 2.98%
Executive Director Arnold Donald has been looking to resume service for all ships by the end of the year, he said in January.
The deadline for travel to the US ultimately depends on receiving a permit from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which requires operators to conduct navigation simulations and request a certificate at least 60 days before offering passenger cruises. . Like the Canadian government, the CDC discourages cruising.
Over nearly five decades, Carnival has amassed a global fleet of cruise ships. But in the face of a pandemic, health authorities and passengers are wondering if operators like Carnival can sail safely ahead. Carter McCall of the WSJ explains. Photo: Getty Images
—Jacquie McNish contributed to this article.
Write to Dave Sebastian at [email protected]
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