Good news for sailors?
Transport Minister Pete Buttigieg said the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) was optimistic that sailing could resume by mid-summer as operators struggled to stay afloat one year after the closure closed due to concerns about the coronavirus.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg takes a question from a reporter during a press conference at the White House on April 9 in Washington.
(AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)
Buttigieg shared the CDC’s latest position during a White House press briefing. According to an official transcript, a reporter asked the secretary to comment on the concerns of leaders in the cruise industry that the CDC’s most recent technical guidance under the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) is far more unclear than the regulations for commercial airlines to fly during this period. time.
SILVERSEA’S WORLD CRUISES OF 139 DAYS SALE IN ONE DAY
“Well, the core is safety … I can not wait for us all to move in a safe and responsible way as much as possible, but it must be safe and responsible,” Buttigieg said. “And airlines have – aircraft have one safety profile; cruise ships have another, vehicles have another. And each has to be treated on the basis of what is safe for the sector.”
“I certainly give a lot to see the cruise sector flourish. And I know that CDC is hopeful that many of these operators will be in a position by mid-summer,” he stressed. “And laying out these specific, kind of gates they have to go through is a very important step for them.”
“I certainly give a lot to see the cruise sector thrive. And I know that CDC is hopeful that many of these operators will be able to sail in the middle of the summer,” Buttigieg stressed.
(iStock)
A day earlier, Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida had announced that the Sunshine State had filed a lawsuit against the federal government, demanding that cruise ships be allowed to start sailing immediately. The governor argued that the non-sailing order was outdated and devastating to the state, as the shipping industry generated billions for the economy and employed tens of thousands of Florida residents.
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a news conference surrounded by cruise workers on April 8 at the Port of Miami in Miami. DeSantis has filed a lawsuit against the federal government and the CDC demanding that cruise ships be allowed to sail. (AP Photo / Wilfredo Lee)
“We do not believe that the federal government has the right to mot a major industry for more than a year, based on very little evidence and very little data,” DeSantis said at a news conference in the Port of Miami. Associated Press.
“People are going to sail somehow. The question is, are we going to do it from Florida, what’s the biggest place to do it in the world, or are they going to do it from the Bahamas or other places?”
CLICK HERE FOR THE CONTINUOUS CORONAVIRUS COVER NEWS
On April 2, the CDC issued the second phase of the CSO, which added six more steps for cruise ship operators to resume operations safely on an as yet indefinite date. These latest measures include daily reporting of COVID-19 cases and an improved color coding system to, among other things, classify a ship’s safety status regarding the new virus.
The CDC issued a non-sailing order for the first time on 14 March 2020, and the National Institute of Public Health says that these restrictions will be in force until at least November 2021.
The cruise capital of America, Florida, is home to three of the busiest ports in the world: Miami, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades.
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer and the Associated Press contributed to this report.