Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2020

1 8 6 V IEWPOINT Adapting cruising for Covid-19 The virus may be around for the foreseeable future, so cruise operators and designers must find new ways to facilitate preventative protocols to keep passengers and crew safe D esigning and maintaining Covid-19-free cruise ships is an ambitious goal and one of the biggest challenges facing designers and ship operators today. The latest studies and recent events have shown that coexistence between healthy people and those carrying the virus is possible and often unavoidable, despite having testing procedures in place. It is likely that the virus will still be around when cruise ships begin to sail again, so it is necessary that we have the protocols in place to ensure that individual cases can be dealt with appropriately. For cruising to resume, ships must be places where discipline, distance and isolation is guaranteed so that every infected person can be effectively isolated and treated. Protocols and internal design systems need to be carefully defined to limit the risk of spreading the virus, so that guests can feel safe in their choice to go on a cruise. To do this, ship designers and operators need to solve challenges relating to interior design, and to maintaining the health and safety of passengers through social distancing and separation. There are currently no protocols or tests in place to ensure that a space is completely free of the virus. The European Union has developed its Healthy Gateways Covid-19 Guidance which aims to offer advice on preventing the spread of Covid-19, but this mainly focuses on hand-washing, sanitising surfaces and acting on those cases which have been detected early. Respecting these protocols and social distancing would solve just a small part of the greater task to keep crew and passengers healthy. Air conditioning, water, food and waste can be made safe with investments, By Marco De Jorio, De Jorio Design International