PORT ST. MAARTEN – Port St. Maarten is urging local cruising fans and those who benefit from the cruise industry to share their thoughts on cruises restarting and to submit their written comments to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which must be received by the end of today, September 21 f for input on how cruise lines should restart cruising.
The current CDC No-Sail Order is up to 30 September. The global cruise industry has voluntarily suspended U.S. cruise operations until at least 31 October 2020.
Port St. Maarten Management said on Sunday: “The cruise sector is an essential part of the St. Maarten economy supporting thousands of jobs in one way or the other directly or indirectly. We call on stakeholders to give their feedback and endorsement as public comments to the CDC before the end of the day on September 21.
“The cruise industry has been evolving during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of providing safer and healthier vacations when cruise vessels start to sail again. The industry is prepared to integrate new health and safety practices on a cruise demonstrating the industry’s commitment to its guests.”
Port St. Maarten is compliant with all COVID-19 regulations related to border protection, public health safety and security. A number of measures have been taken at the initiative of Port Management such as the ‘Sterile Port Protocol’ that includes enhanced sanitization measures which have been in place since mid-March at the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facility.
The “Sterile Port Protocol” falls under the scope of the Ordinance Public Health which is part of the International Health Regulations as issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The aforementioned is part of the ports procedures for responding to infectious disease situations. A “Crisis Emergency Service Department” is in place to deal with in the initial phase any infectious disease until medical and public health officials arrive amongst other established protocols to facilitate and ensure the safety of passengers, crew and the local population upon resumption of cruises.
Supporters of cruising can go to the following link and follow the instructions: https://beta.regulations.gov/document/CDC-2020-0087-0001 about how to submit your comments.
The public may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2020-0087 by any of the following methods listed below. CDC does not accept comments by email.
