The health and safety of our people is our number one priority and as the Covid-19 situation continues we are working hard to protect our people.
As you all are aware, P&O Cruises and Cunard ships follow rigorous health and sanitation procedures on board at all times, in accordance with all established industry standards. Our medical experts are coordinating closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Public Health England to implement control measures for our ships.
We are actively seeking to reduce any risk to our ship’s company but we have seen a very small number of positive cases for Covid-19 on two of our ships, Azura and Britannia, who are both now in Southampton. Although guests disembarked both ships more than a fortnight ago emails have been sent emails to guests and crew in an abundance of caution.
Given the current global guidelines crew on board ships in the UK also now have new stringent protocols in place;
Ship’s company have been moving into guest cabins, well spaced out and only those critical to the operation of the ship are working. Social distancing is being rigorously enforced at all other times. All ships’ company have been given access to complimentary wifi to help support contacting family and friends via social media and Whatsapp. Ships in the UK have also been provided with an additional 4G router which will allow crew to access voice and video services free of charge.
We have developed a crew repatriation plan and have already repatriated those who are able to and do not hold critical roles onboard. We are actively working to repatriate as many crew as possible but as we employ over 60 nationalities onboard our ships and with travel restrictions in place for many of the home countries of our crew we are fully considering the health, safety and wellbeing of each crewmember as part of their repatriation plan.
Our repatriation efforts include chartering aircraft where commercial flights are either drastically reduced or suspended to ensure our people reach their destinations. We are organising ground transportation as in many countries domestic rail, sea and air services are closed down and we are working with embassies both here and abroad to ensure that our people are afforded all of the necessary care and protection until they arrive at their final destinations.
All of these protocols are essential to protect our crew and to ensure that when the time comes for them to disembark they may all return home safely. The physical and mental health, wellbeing and safeguarding of our crew is always an absolute priority but never more so than in the current situation.
As we all continue to work at home and develop our new ways of working with our ships, with our colleagues and with external stakeholders we hope you are all keeping safe and well and we will continue to keep you updated.