With the US embargoes cruise operations due to the COVID-19 situation, Port of Oakland recently informed that three cruise vessels are scheduled to berth at the port’s facility.
In fact, the cruise ships will tie up at the port without passengers onboard, but only their crewmembers.
A the moment, there are no reports of any coronavirus case associated with the vessels.
According to the port, two Norwegian Cruise Line ships will berth at Oakland’s Outer Harbor Terminal, which is currently not in use for the Port’s container shipping business.
Another will dock at Howard Terminal on the Oakland Estuary, which is no longer considered large enough for container operations.
For the records, the cruise ships could remain at berth for 2-to-3 months, according to the cruise line.
In light of the situation, the pot managed to make berth space for approximately 100 cruise ships worldwide.
Around 80.000 crew members are aboard passenger liners at sea waiting to tie up. Other U.S. ports, for example some in Florida and Virginia, are already providing berth space for cruise ships.
We’re a container port, but we’re still in the shipping business. These ships are under federal requirements to report health concerns, and we understand that they haven’t had a history of coronavirus, so we’ll do what we can to help.
….Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan added.
Concluding, the cruise operator noted that the cruise vessels will be managed by small crew teams, as there are no plans for them to disembark.
