The three cruise ships berthed at the cruise piers on Tuesday morning. Photo by John Halley.
PHILIPSBURG--Three cruise ships were in port on Tuesday, March 17, to take on fuel and provisions. No one on board these vessels were allowed to disembark.
Cruise ship Costa Magica arrived in St. Maarten around 1:00am Tuesday. Her arrival was originally scheduled for Monday, but it was delayed. There were no passengers on board the vessel.
“The cruise ship was given permission, based on humanitarian grounds, by the government of St. Maarten to refuel and for food provisioning,” said Port St. Maarten in a press release early Tuesday morning.
One person, a medical doctor, boarded the ship in St. Maarten. He arrived on the island Monday, after government approved the request. He was screened and cleared “prior to being allowed to travel to the country,” said the port.
He was screened a second time on arrival at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) as is required in St. Maarten’s travel restriction protocols.
The vessel’s crew were not allowed to disembark while the vessel was moored at the cruise pier. Costa Magica departed St. Maarten around 3:00pm Tuesday after taking on the doctor, as well as its fuel and provisions.
Cruise ship AIDAdiva was also given permission “on humanitarian grounds” by the St. Maarten government on Tuesday to take on fuel. She was allowed to berth after fulfilling the country’s entry requirements, said the port.
AIDAdiva had no passengers on board and her crew were not allowed to disembark while the vessel was in port. After taking on fuel, the vessel departed St. Maarten around 3:30pm Tuesday, en route to Germany.
Cruise ship Wind Surf is also in port for bunkering and provisioning and will depart once those operations have been completed and after she receives instructions from her head office as to its next port call.
The vessel arrived in St. Maarten on Monday, March 16, and was given permission to remain in port for a week. As of press time Tuesday, Wind Surf was still in port.
