CRUISE SHIPS PREPARE TO SET SAIL FOR CORONAVIRUS RECOVERY
▶ Badly hit by the pandemic, the industry is not expected to be at full steam until late 2022
As cruise ships prepare to return to sea after a 14-month break because of the coronavirus pandemic, the industry faces a challenging future.
While many staff will return to work, life on board is set to be very different, and that will reflect in salaries and the number of cruise ships operating.
Recruitment firms for cruise liners said profits were down 70 per cent on pre-pandemic levels and fear it could take a year for the industry to recover.
“We have a limited number of openings as we are mostly trying to deploy returning crew who have been sitting at home,” said Matthew Dymtchev, director of operations at Odyssey International Maritime and Hotel Management.
“The companies that I am working with are gradually reopening from August 1, but are unlikely to be fully operational until September 2022.
“We’re supplying crew for about 50 ships, but with the travel restrictions, vaccination and different safety protocols for new crew, recovery will take some time.
“From our research, around 85 per cent of these people are ready to come back to work, but that does not mean they will all do so,” Mr Dymtchev said.
Staff joining cruise ships face strict new safety protocols.
Changes to onboard layout to incorporate social distancing measures have been made at a substantial cost.
Odyssey supplies crew to ships operated by travel firms including Oceania Cruises, Virgin Voyages, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Thomson Cruises, Princess Cruises and Cunard.
While most businesses in the Gulf have returned to some kind of normality, tourism continues to suffer from the pandemic’s fallout.
In a marketwide survey of more than 1,000 professionals in the region by recruiter Hays, 52 per cent said their organisation was in “business as usual” or “growth” phases.
Of those still recovering, 28 per cent expected their operations to be back to pre-pandemic levels or beyond in the next 12 months. Together, this suggests 80 per cent of organisations will be back on their feet, if not growing, in 2022.
The cruise ship industry, however, is likely to continue to suffer for some time, Mr Dymtchev said.
“It has been difficult, to say the least, and it will take far longer to recover and be much harder than any of us thought.”
“The gravity of the situation was vastly underestimated by the industry as a whole.
“This time last year we thought we would be back within three months, but it has been a much extended period.”
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidance for the resumption of cruise operations in May. Measures included mandatory masks and regular disinfection.
European ports imposing different safety protocols for new crew joining vessels has complicated recruitment further.
Changes to onboard layout to incorporate social distancing have also been implemented at substantial cost
“If we send someone from Dubai fully vaccinated to join a crew in Southampton it will take a month of preparation,” Mr Dymtchev said.
“If someone is arriving in Venice, Italy, they also use quarantine for seven days and have a PCR test, or for 14 days if they are unvaccinated. That makes things complicated and expensive.”
Despite international travel resuming as border restrictions ease, the cruise liner industry remains uncertain.
The first five post-pandemic voyages on the Cunard-run Queen Elizabeth liner were cancelled after crew tested positive for coronavirus.
Cases were identified when new crew joined in June, as the ship was preparing for short voyages around the UK.
Royal Caribbean cruises resumed in June after a year-long suspension but recorded two cases of the virus on its Celebrity Millennium vessel.
The global industry was worth around $150 billion prior to the pandemic and supported more than 1.2 million jobs.
Profits have now been considerably reduced due to falling demand and quiet schedules.
Several onboard outbreaks plunged the industry into crisis in early 2020, with the Diamond Princess one of the worst hit.
The 18-deck ship operated by Princess Cruises was in dock in Yokohama, Japan, when the virus spread through passengers on board, infecting more than 600 and killing at least nine.
Meanwhile, a Genting Cruise Lines ship on a “cruise to nowhere” returned to Singapore on Wednesday after a passenger, 40, was suspected of having Covid-19, the city state’s tourism board reported. The nearly 3,000 passengers and crew have been confined to their cabins.
Although Dubai’s new cruise terminal has already taken in supersized liners this year, travel agents said the industry would need time to recover.
“Covid has been a nightmare for the cruise ship sector,” said Vivek Menon, a booking agent for Deira Travel.
He said that while prior to Covid-19, 30 per cent of Deira bookings were for cruises, now they represent less than 5 per cent of inquiries.
“There is a lot more nervousness about these kinds of holidays,” Mr Menon said.