By Elishya Perera
SINGAPORE (CWBN)_Genting Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International, which are home ported in Singapore, will be allowed to offer ‘cruises to nowhere’ starting from November. According to a statement issued by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) today, the cruises will be offered with no ports of call, only to Singapore residents, at a maximum capacity of 50 per cent. Accordingly, Genting Cruise Lines’ World Dream will start offering those cruises on 6th November, while Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum of the Seas will set sail in December.
The STB stated that all cruise lines must be audited and receive the CruiseSafe certification to sail out of Singapore. Therefore, DNV GL has been appointed by the STB, to create a certification programme for cruise lines that would offer ‘cruises to nowhere’, departing Singapore. These cruise lines are required to comply with stringent safety measures such as mask-wearing and safe distancing of 1m between groups of passengers, as well as all passengers being tested for Covid-19 prior to boarding. Regular inspections will also be conducted onboard to ensure compliance, while non-compliant cruise lines will be subjected to penalties including fines and revocation of CruiseSafe certification.
While the pandemic caused many countries to close their ports due to the fear of vessels carrying infected passengers, cruise ships were disallowed from arriving and departing from Singapore since March this year. However, according to the statement issued by Genting Cruise Lines, it has completely re-examined and enhanced all of its health and hygiene protocols, in accordance with the strict guidelines of the local authorities. Dream Cruises president Michael Goh said, “We are delighted to be the first cruise ship to restart operations here in Singapore and to give a much needed boost to the local tourism industry”.
