The Community, through the General Directorate of Public Health, has given the green light to the Port Authority for the reactivation of national cruises in the port of Cartagena, with all the safety and health guarantees against Covid-19.
The document, the result of work by the Port Authority, the Autonomous Community and the Cartagena City Council, places the Region among the first communities –along with Andalusia and the Canary Islands– to reactivate cruise activity with the necessary safety measures.
The confirmation that the Region of Murcia is prepared to receive cruise ship passengers with maximum safety, both for passengers, crew, and the citizens of Cartagena, was analyzed in the meeting held today by the president of the Port Authority, Yolanda Muñoz, the Minister of the Presidency, Tourism and Sports, Marcos Ortuño, and the deputy mayor of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, with representatives of the hospitality and commerce of the city.
Marcos Ortuño stated that the Community's approval "is a competitive advantage over other places and makes it easier for shipping companies to choose the port of Cartagena as a safe destination open to responsible tourism.".
For her part, Muñoz stated that “Cartagena has done its homework to be a safe destination, earning the Advanced Good Practices distinction for COVID-19 preparedness, both at the Cruise Terminal and for the Port Police, with protocols in place to guarantee maximum safety.” At the meeting, the president explained that “we are beginning the process of reactivating cruises. The sector has worked intensively to establish protocols that will allow them to resume operations and ensure that the virus does not enter the ship, and we must collaborate with them because the evolution of these national experiences will be crucial for the return of international cruises, for which we are awaiting authorization from the Ministry and the Port Health Authority.”.
Noelia Arroyo emphasized that “it’s crucial not to fail at this first step. The cruise lines know this, which is why they’ve imposed a very strict system of controls on board and during visits. We’re going to help them succeed because their success will guarantee that we can bring cruise passengers back to our shops and restaurants.”.
In this regard, the president of COEC, Ana Correa, stressed that "we are going to work with the administrations to ensure that this first experience is a complete success in order to reactivate our economy.".
The Regional Minister for the Presidency and Tourism has announced that shipping companies will have to integrate into their protocols the measures established in regional regulations for the prevention of Covid-19, which will at all times be subject to the evolution of the health situation in the region. Furthermore, ships will be required to have a Contingency Plan for the monitoring and management of any suspected or confirmed cases that may occur on board. In addition, 20 days prior to arrival in Cartagena, the cruise ship must inform the General Directorate of Public Health of its safety and prevention protocol, along with general information about the ship, including the number of passengers and crew on board.
The support of the Autonomous Community, as Muñoz recalled, is "the starting gun to return to the cruise sector the confidence they have placed in us since they decided to bet on Cartagena as a port of call, and which allowed us to receive 250,000 cruise passengers in 2019, a historic figure for Cartagena that we would have consolidated in 2020 if the pandemic had not hit us.".
To ensure the safety of passengers and crew, the cruise industry has established safety measures to prevent the virus from entering the ship. To this end, cruise lines have stipulated in their protocols that passengers disembarking will travel in so-called "bubble groups," with pre-arranged experiences and restricted contact with people outside their bubble.
Cleaning, hygiene, and disinfection protocols have been increased at the ship's facilities. Food and beverages are handled only by the crew, and capacity has been reduced to ensure social distancing. Crew members are required to quarantine for 10 days and take a PCR test before boarding the cruise ship and are not permitted to disembark until the itinerary is complete. Passengers board with a negative PCR test. Temperature checks will be conducted daily on board, and random PCR tests will be administered.
