Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2020

1 8 7 New seating arrangements in public spaces will help to keep passengers and crew members safe onboard but this is much more difficult when it comes to the furniture and decorations typically found on a cruise ship. The most recent tests in the micro-bacterial and viral fields show that it is impossible to completely eliminate the virus, unless you replace carpets, textiles and other surfaces with materials that are easier to clean. In other words, the most effective way to ensure that all onboard spaces are free from Covid-19 is by completely redesigning and refitting existing ships. Disinfection methods such as ultraviolet germicidal irradiation can be used for air conditioning units and spaces that consist of wipeable surfaces – such as kitchens and medical facilities – but they cannot be used to properly sanitise public spaces and cabins. Instead, these areas will need to use a combination of sanitising technologies and feature specific furniture pieces that can be easily cleaned or are self-sanitising. In order to operate alongside Covid-19, cruising will demand a change in habits and lifestyle onboard ships. For example, interactive touch totems and touch screens, such as those that might provide guests with deck plans and other information, will need to be rethought or switched off since, as public touchpoints, they are among the main sources of infectious transmission between passengers. To reduce the risk associated with these features, cruise lines could encourage the use of individual devices, such as mobiles, to find this information when passengers arrive onboard. Lifts also present issues as the call panels are another type of public touchpoint and the available space inside may not facilitate social distancing. Cruise operators can therefore discourage the use of lifts where possible and recommend using the stairs instead, making exceptions only for those with mobility issues. Needless to say, most shipowners and shipyards hesitate to undertake these investments and changes in culture, as they wait to see a possible reduction in global cases or distribution of an effective vaccine. But if the pandemic continues, the alternative and risk to not tackling these problems in a radical and timely manner could see the cruise market – and its immense commercial and industrial activity – impacted for a long time. Industry members must now decide how they will approach the situation. While physical precautions will be a necessary part of life onboard a cruise ship in the near future, we have to be aware that the human factor will also be a fragile element in the safety of the ship. For example, infections may become apparent that were not detectable during embarkation safety procedures and passengers may forget to act in line with preventative measures during excursions, which may result in cases occurring onboard before they would be detected or isolated. The physical traces of the virus left on surfaces and objects, the dynamics of air