Canada watching 70 cruise ships still sailing

TRAVEL

OTTAWA • The federal government is trying to keep tabs on as many as 4,000 Canadians on board at least 70 cruise ships still at sea, with many forbidden to dock as governments around the world block international travellers to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Global Affairs Canada warned Canadians March 9 against going on cruises and a few days later most major cruise lines announced they wouldn’t be launching any new boats, though the ones already underway would continue their voyages.

Many of those ships now, however, cannot find a place to end those voyages, and if they do, passengers are struggling to find flights to get home.

Among the stranded, are more than 340 Canadians on board the Norwegian Jewel, which left Sydney, Australia on Feb. 28 for a three-week cruise around the South Pacific. Instead of docking in French Polynesia Friday as planned, the ship is now sailing for Honolulu to pick up supplies and fuel. The Hawaiian government is the fourth to refuse to let the boat dock and let anyone off, including American citizens on board.

The ship tried to end its journey early as fears of the virus spread and global travel slowed to a crawl, but Fiji, French Polynesia and New Zealand all turned the ship away. There have been no reports of anyone on board being sick with COVID-19.

A number of other ships are being quarantined off ports in South America, or sailing back to the United States after being refused docking in Chile and Peru.

One of the first major outbreaks was on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in February. More than one-fifth of the ship’s passengers ultimately tested positive for COVID-19, including at least 48 Canadians.

One of those Canadian passengers died in hospital in Japan Friday.

Spokespeople for Global Affairs Canada said its diplomatic missions around the world are stretched thin right now as tens of thousands Canadians look for help.

Department statistics show 436,000 Canadians are registered with embassies as being out of the country, though the department isn’t tracking how many people are asking for help to come home.

Canada issued a global travel advisory on March 13, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers have been warning people for at least a week that it is time to come home.

Heeding that call is not easy when many countries have cancelled international flights and closed their borders.

Trudeau said the government is working with Canadian airlines to try and bring home some Canadians who are stranded but he and Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne have warned some people may be stuck where they are for weeks, or even months.