A review of COVID-19 transmission dynamics and clinical outcomes on cruise ships worldwide, January to October 2020

Background Cruise ships provide an ideal setting for transmission of SARS-CoV-2, given the socially dense exposure environment. Aim To provide a comprehensive review of COVID-19 outbreaks on cruise ships. Methods PubMed was searched for COVID-19 cases associated with cruise ships between January and October 2020. A list of cruise ships with COVID-19 was cross-referenced with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of cruise ships associated with a COVID-19 case within 14 days of disembarkation. News articles were also searched for epidemiological information. Narratives of COVID-19 outbreaks on ships with over 100 cases are presented. Results Seventy-nine ships and 104 unique voyages were associated with COVID-19 cases before 1 October 2020. Nineteen ships had more than one voyage with a case of COVID-19. The median number of cases per ship was three (interquartile range (IQR): 1–17.8), with two notable outliers: the Diamond Princess and the Ruby Princess, which had 712 and 907 cases, respectively. The median attack rate for COVID-19 was 0.2% (IQR: 0.03–1.5), although this distribution was right-skewed with a mean attack rate of 3.7%; 25.9% (27/104) of voyages had at least one COVID-19-associated death. Outbreaks involving only crew occurred later than outbreaks involving guests and crew. Conclusions In the absence of mitigation measures, COVID-19 can spread easily on cruise ships in a susceptible population because of the confined space and high-density contact networks. This environment can create superspreader events and facilitate international spread.

Analysis of Sea Pollution by Sewage from Vessels

In this study, we analysed the sea pollution caused by sewage from vessels. The Dubrovnik aquatorium was chosen as a typical sea area that accommodates a variety of vessels in different locations. We sampled the sea at eight different coastal locations over 14 months and then analysed the samples to determine the presence of the indicators of fecal pollution. Simultaneous with the sampling of the sea, we recorded the number and type of vessels accommodated at the port. These data were applied in chi-square tests, which were used to determine the existence of the relationship of certain types of vessels with fecal coliform bacteria in the sea for each location. The correlation was determined between smaller vessels such as boats, yachts, megayachts, and smaller cruise ships in national navigation with bacteria at sea at the sampling locations. The results can provide an improved understanding of sea pollution due to sewage from vessels.

Key Factors Driving the Demand for Cruising and Challenges Facing the Cruise Industry in the Future

Cruises were the fastest growing sector in the travel industry. The rapid growth in demand was created originally by demand from North America, more recently Europe, and finally the rest of the world, China and Australia in particular. One of the main reasons for the rapid development and growth in popularity of cruises is that the cruise lines were successfully adapting to new travel trends delivering cruise ships with facilities and experiences tailored to the needs of travellers from all market segments. The corona crisis hit the cruise industry heavily and disrupted all plans, schedules and forecasts. This paper aims to analyze which factors were driving the demand for cruising on the world's leading source markets and the challenges facing the industry in a post-pandemic world. The findings show that the rapid growth in demand of cruise tourism was due to several factors, including the long-term growth in consumers’ disposable income, the adaptation of products to the requirements of new source markets and different market segments, more cruise capacity in new regions, and the development of national cruise brands.

PASSENGER RESPONSE TIME DATA- SETS FOR LARGE PASSENGER FERRIES AND CRUISE SHIPS DERIVED FROM SEA TRIALS

The paper consists of 27 figures; numerous equations and 12 notes/ references, many of which are written by the authors of this paper. Whilst this may indicate a lack of “reading around the subject” it also indicates the unique nature of the topic and that little exists at present in the public domain about this topic. Indeed the authors and the research group they represent are the main contributors to the IMOs discussions and circulars on this subject. Given that background the paper is very detailed and consists of comparisons between the evacuation times of 3 passenger ships, 2 being Ro-Pax vessels and 1 a cruise liner. On board evacuation time statistics have been gathered from significant populations enabling the authors to draw significant conclusions relating to evacuation times in the presented scenarios. The paper is therefore a useful addition to the debates on this subject which is of major relevance to the understanding of evacuation times in passenger vessels. Data and research in this area is difficult to obtain thus the authors should be congratulated for their work.

ON THE SAFE PILOTAGE OF SHIP’S WITH PROPULSION THAT CAN AZIMUTH FOR STEERING

From the thrusters on smaller, but numerous, harbour support vessels through to the pod-drives on cruise ships and ocean going liners, azimuth control has rapidly established itself in the maritime industry. From the design of the ship, to the training of personnel and the development of operational procedures, the industry has risen to meet the demand. However, this rapid evolution has not allowed sufficient time for the propagation of knowledge throughout the different disciplines. On a day-to-day basis, maritime pilots must deal with such ships, coping as they do, with an as yet unstandardized environment. This paper presents the findings of an EU project (AZIPILOT) considering accidents and incidents and concerning the training and operational practice of ships equipped with Azimuth Control Devices (ACD’s).

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR POWER GENERATION MANAGEMENT FOR AN 110000+ GRT CRUISE SHIP

The aim of this work is to provide a methodology for the power generation optimization on large cruise ships in order to improve their operating efficiency, fuel saving and, consequently, to reduce exhaust gas emissions. The electrical load analysis is compared to the machinery reports of actual data in order to investigate if the estimated required power is appropriately close to the real power demand. Relevance is given to the average load of the diesel-generators, which expresses an indication of how the generators work. The model of the ship electric distribution system represents one of the main objectives of this work along with the power system simulations. These were developed through the definition of load profiles, both by the onboard recordings and by machinery reports data. Therefore, the same cruise profile is analyzed under different scenarios, the real and the optimized one, in order to highlight the critical state of the system and any possible margin for improvement.

PASSENGER RESPONSE TIME DATA-SETS FOR LARGE PASSENGER FERRIES AND CRUISE SHIPS DERIVED FROM SEA TRIALS

This paper describes research that was carried-out under the EU FP7 research project SAFEGUARD and presents passenger response time data generated from five full-scale semi-unannounced assembly trials at sea. The data-sets were generated from three different types of passenger ships, a RO-PAX ferry without cabins (RP1), a cruise ship (CS) and a RO-PAX ferry with cabins (RP2). In total, response times from 2366 people were collected making it the largest response time data-set ever collected – on land or sea. The analysis methodology used to extract the response time data and the resultant response time distributions (RTD) is presented. A number of key findings from the data analysis are presented along with three recommendations to modify the IMO guidelines governing ship evacuation analysis, namely; (a) it is inappropriate to use the same RTD for cruise ships and RO-PAX vessels; (b) a new Day Case RTD is suggested for RO-PAX vessels and (c) new Day and Night RTDs are suggested for cruise ships.