An open letter to the media (in Australia in particular), which was originally published 01 April 2020 in response to their endless “putting the boot” into the entire cruise industry, almost blaming them for the Covid-19 Pandemic. Emotions were understandably high around the Ruby Princess “debacle”, however the media’s treatment of the entire cruise industry was unprecedented in it’s one sided ferocity and “attack dog” mentality.
An open letter to the media
Back off, get your facts straight and stop whipping up hysteria about cruise ships. A completely new phase of “Turn Back The Boats” which is bordering on immoral.
All ships out there off the coast only have crew. The last ship disembarked all guests in Sydney around 20 March. Most ships also disembarked a number of crew around the same time to head back to their home county, however a number of crew are needed on board to maintain the ship and keep it operational. They (ships) are here because they were based (home porting) here at the time, and anticipate resuming their operations here when this all blows over. And according to CLIA, the sector contributed over $5 billion to the economy last year. That’s over $5,000,000,000.
The problem for Ruby Princess and some of the Royal Caribbean ships is that Covid-19 has been brought onboard at some stage – more than likely by a guest who has gotten through the screening process a number of weeks ago when they boarded. It should be said they likely were not aware of – or not showing – symptoms at the time, however there are now still residual effects on some crew from the spread of the
virus on board. Unfortunately with this virus in an enclosed space, it easily spreads as we have seen on ships, at weddings, social gatherings, sporting events and the like.
The question is, given the worldwide shutdown and closure of ports, where are these ships supposed to go? Particularly if there are illnesses on board, are we just to say bugger off and fend for yourselves? Do we simply treat them like people smugglers and “turn back the boats”? Certainly the politicians and media are doing their best to whip up a storm, which I think is leaning towards an approach completely lacking in morality..
