Cruise ship filled with cargo instead of passengers arrives at Naha Port as ship stops taking passengers due to corona virus

Cruise ship filled with cargo instead of passengers arrives at Naha Port as ship stops taking passengers due to corona virus

A cruise ship with only crew on board docked at Naha port. January 29, Naha Port


January 30, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Amid the spread of the corona virus, China has put in place restrictions such as the banning of group travel, and as a result on two cruise ships containing no passengers arrived at Naha Port January 29.

In addition to the Chinese passengers who had to cancel their travel plans, as a measure to stem the spread of the virus the cruise line made the decisions to temporarily stop accepting passengers.

Instead, they took on cargo for transport while docked at the port.

The two ships that arrived without passengers were the Costa Cruises’ (United Kingdom) ship Costa Venezia (approx. 135,000 tons, 5,200 passenger capacity) and the Royal Caribbean Cruises’ (United States) ship Spectrum of the Seas (approx. 168,000 tons, 4,200 passenger capacity).

Costa Cruises also decided to cancel a voyage scheduled to depart from China operating from January 25 through February 4.

According to the company, since they were required to take on food and cargo at the port, they had to depart despite not having any passengers.

Naha Port Authority (NPA) Permanent Executive Vice President Takefumi Tahara said “Having just become the top port Japan for ship arrivals, we are concerned about this will affect the number of visits.

A decrease in souvenir shopping and dining by cruise ship passengers will have a major impact on Okinawa’s economy.”

(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

Go To Japanese


　


Previous Article:
Next Article:

[Similar Articles]