A ship ‘with a history’ disembarks in Australia with more than 600 infected by Covid

Journalist and author Margot Saville, a 9News staff associate, is scathingly critical of the landing last week of the Majestic Princess ship at the Sydney docks, with 3,300 passengers on board and more than 660 infected with Covid. The author of the book teal revolution He wonders: Have we not learned anything from the disaster that the Ruby Princess cruise ship caused almost three years ago, leaving a trail of Covid victims, in addition to 28 deaths?

In the case of the Majestic, the only warning that occurred to the leaders of the shipping company before disembarking was to advise travelers not to take public transport. Travelers who, in many cases, were people aged 70 or over, which posed greater risks if they became ill or needed medical attention. In this context, Dr. Kerrey Chant, head of the Medical Department in charge of analyzing and controlling the new variants of the pandemic, said that the 24 hours of last Thursday the positive cases were multiplied by three after landing.

For his part, Stuart Allison, vice president of the Carnival shipping company, blurted out that all passengers, without exception, had to wear well-fitting masks on board and, on the other hand, thanked the state health medical services of New South Wales the aid they are providing to passengers. Meanwhile, Robert Booy, a professor and expert in infectious diseases, in statements to the television program Nine’s Today, explained that many people mix on cruise ships, leading to diseases or infections.

Travel ‘bargains’ to visit the charms of New Zealand

Analyzing the costs of the trip at a rate of 150 dollars a day for the twelve days that they visited New Zealand, it seemed to be a bargain “and being so cheap, it is explained why it was so popular” remarked Margot Saville. According to a research study published by Cruise Market Watch, 88,800 people traveled aboard the Majestic Princess during the year 2021with profits of around 130 million US dollars. But the profits went to the parent company, Carnival Corporation Plc, whose headquarters are divided into two independent companies: one registered in the tax haven of Panama and the other in the United Kingdom.

All this means that while Canberra’s tax department doesn’t get a single dollar of tax breaks, Australians have to bear the millions of dollars caused by hundreds or thousands of cruise ship travelers requiring medical attention due to of the pandemic.

Covid is not the only negative factor associated with shipping vessels

According to journalistic sources, the industry in the sector also causes large amounts of pollution in marine waters, especially when ships moor in port facilities and spill gases, waste, dirty or oily water. As a sample button in the year 2013, a cruise terminal was installed in White Bay instead of Barangaroo, after dozens of adults and children suffered symptoms of headaches and respiratory problems. In 2015, Lisa-Marie Murphy phoned Alan Jones’ radio station to tell her that she “was horrified to learn that the toxins come from the fumes of shipping ships.” Eventually, the problem was identified.

Putting things this way, community protests gave rise to a parliamentary investigation and in 2020 cruise ships had to make a fuel modification, regulating to 0.5% sulfur, one hour after sailing in Australian marine waters. However, in the United States and European countries regulations require only 0.1% percent of the gas.

Outlook for future cruises

Shortly before 2020, cruise companies were contemplating an increase of 19 ships to the 278 that floated around the five continents. Those were other times when, according to data from the International Association of Cruise Lines, the industry in the sector was booming, offering jobs to more than 1,200,000 people with a salary cost of 46,500 million euros, while the profits to be shared They totaled 140,000 million euros.

However, with the variants of Covid in full swing, it will be difficult to keep up the same pace, especially considering that fears and fears are bad travel companions. And he added that, in principle, the first to feel the crisis would be many employees who, not having long-term contracts, would be exposed to being fired.