Call for cruises to set sail in June without vaccinations

Vaccinations are not needed for the resumption of cruising in Australia, infectious disease expert says.

Small ship company Coral Expeditions has successfully resumed Australian cruises: deckhand Mitch Patterson in action. Picture: Sean Davey

One of Australia’s leading infectious disease experts has gone into bat for the resumption of cruising, saying there is no need to wait for the completion of the vaccination rollout.

Cruise industry officials are pushing for cruising to resume mid-year in Australian and trans-Tasman waters, after more than a year in dry dock.

Ian Norton, who led the World Health Organisation’s medical team in Geneva for six years, said the industry should not be punished for the COVID outbreaks in the early stages of the pandemic because so little was known about the virus then.

Now a health and safety adviser to several cruise lines, Dr Norton said ships had a history of managing outbreaks such as ­gastroenteritis on board, and had become “experts” in the protocols and requirements of infection control. “It is inappropriate to look back at those experiences of the Ruby Princess or Diamond Princess and reflect that into the present day,” he said.

“We didn’t understand COVID, it was very new to us all, we didn’t understand how it was transmitted. If we knew then what we know now, our approach would be very different.”

Dr Norton said there was no health reason why cruising could not resume on ships crewed by Australians provided they remained within the Australian bubble, or trans-Tasman waters.

Already, small ship company Coral Expeditions has successfully resumed Australian cruises, and MSC Cruises has carried more than 60,000 people on cruises in the Mediterranean since last July.

It was unnecessary to wait for the vaccination rollout to be completed, Dr Norton said, with the jab just “an added tool” in the COVID war. “The risk on land is reflected in the risk on board those vessels,” he said.

“We’re not talking about cruise ships coming in and out of Australia and going back to Indonesia or The Philippines or the UK — that’s all to come in the future. What we are talking about is bringing it inside the Australian bubble and offering it as another form of tourism for Australians.”

In March, the federal government extended the health bio­security emergency until June 17, which included restrictions on the entry of cruise vessels within Australia. At least five cruise lines are awaiting a decision on whether foreign-flagged ships will be allowed to sail the Kimberley in Western Australia, with the season due to start next month.

APT, Aurora Expeditions, Ponant, Scenic and Silversea have announced Kimberley cruises, which are reportedly selling well.

Scenic sales and marketing manager Anthony Laver said they were working closely with federal and state governments to obtain required regulatory approvals and permits, to operate safely in the Kimberley.

The first departure is scheduled from Darwin on June 19.

“While there have not been any further formal updates from key authorities on the timing for the staged resumption of cruising in Australian waters (for foreign flagged vessels), we are continuing to closely monitor the situation,” Mr Laver said.

Dr Norton said risk controls adopted by cruise lines were very good, and would decrease the risk (of COVID infection) to an acceptable level. “We’ll never get to zero but if we wanted a zero risk environment, we should probably be in lockdown forever and ever and that’s not reasonable,” he said.