The Regional Government Council of Madeira decided to authorize the docking and anchoring of cruise ships in the region's ports, although some limitations remain due to COVID-19 control.
Resolution 772/2020, approved by the Governing Council and published in the JORAM, determines that the embarkation, disembarkation and disembarkation of passengers and crew will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the opinion of the Health Authority and the conditions defined by it.
Paula Cabaço, President of the Board of Directors of APRAM, SA, believes that “this creates the conditions for the stopover of the Seadream I, scheduled for the 24th of this month, a small ship of 100 passengers that has been operating all summer.
This operation requires knowledge of the ship's and Port Authority's protocols, as well as compliance with the requirements demanded by IA-Salud, such as performing a PCR test at the last port of call.
Paula Cabaço argues that the Council of Government's decision, now published, "will allow APRAM to continue the commercial efforts made by numerous cruise lines in recent weeks to gauge Madeira's interest in being included in their itineraries. The reopening of Madeira's ports to cruise ships is an unequivocal sign of confidence and reaffirms the region's continued commitment to this market, which, before the pandemic, represented nearly 600,000 passengers and some 200,000 crew members, with an average of 300 port calls per year.".
