Will the pandemic provide an opportunity for positive change in the cruise industry?

Will the pandemic provide an opportunity for positive change in the cruise industry?

“The Covid-19 pandemic has created a unique opportunity for cruise line companies to revise their corporate culture, reinvent their business models, enhance their human resources management, develop and embrace the risk and crisis management strategies, and adopt sustainable development,” say the experts. In this image from 1 May 2021, passengers queue to be tested for Covid-19 before embarking on board the Costa Smeralda cruise liner docked in Savona, near Genoa in Italy.

(AFP/Marco Bertorello)

Little more than a year has passed since an outbreak of Covid-19 on the Diamond Princess torpedoed the cruise industry and left it in ruins. Lines such as Carnival Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line, which resumed operations only a few weeks ago, know that it will take time to regain consumer confidence. They also understand that the market has changed during the forced hiatus: new trends have begun to emerge, while the pandemic has exposed, once again, failures that must be put right.

“The cruise industry is still booming but it needs to change its mentality,” Jara Schreiber, coordinator of Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism, tells Equal Times. “Calls to take action on sustainable fuels and climate change are increasing, destinations are taking steps to ban cruises or regulate access, and the effects of mass tourism are becoming increasingly visible,” she adds.

Recent events in Key West could set a precedent. Last November, residents of the island in the Florida Straits approved three referendums that would ban cruise ships with a capacity of 1,300 passengers or more from docking in Key West, limit the number of people disembarking from cruise ships to 1,500 a day (a number that could previously reach up to 6,000 visitors a day), and give priority to cruise lines with the best environmental and health records.

While the debate is not new – a previous vote took place in 2013 – there has been a resurgence in popular support following the eight-month hiatus caused by coronavirus restrictions, during which time residents saw significant improvements to the coastal environment.

“We have the world’s third-largest barrier reef and the ships pass through a marine sanctuary to access the port. In just a short time, many people in Key West began to see dramatic improvements…the water is clearer than it has been in 20 or 30 years,” Arlo Haskell, treasurer of Safer Cleaner Ships, which organised the referendums, tells Equal Times. Smaller ships, they argue, are the future, while the ‘floating cities’ that weigh up to 220,000 tonnes and feature spas, cinemas, theatres and even ice rinks, do little for the local economy.

“The cruise lines ensure that most of their passengers’ money stays on the ships […]. With stops of only four hours at each destination, the ports are nothing but a backdrop for a photo opportunity,” says Haskell.

According to a study by Oxford Economics, though cruise ships account for 50 per cent of all visitors to Key West, they make up around 7 per cent of total visitor spending on the island.

“The pandemic may be causing communities to take a closer look at the status quo and ask themselves if this is what they want in the future,” says Dr Jennifer Holland, an industry specialist and professor of tourism at the University of Suffolk in the UK. While cities such as Venice and Dubrovnik continue to seek a balance, in certain regions the industry is already responding to citizens’ calls.

“While waiting for travel restrictions to be eased, we’ve drawn up a plan to return with a greener and safer product. The pandemic has accelerated this need,” explains Claus Bødker, director of CruiseCopenhagen, a network of several interest groups within the industry. As Bødker explains, the countries of the Baltic Sea aspire to become the “the world’s most sustainable destination,” and are currently working on a set of internationally recognised measures to define a region’s level of sustainability. “We don’t think limitations on large ships are a good option. There are other options, including giving incentives to green cruises or investing in shore-side energy facilities,” he says.

Strict regulations, dubious credibility

Following the entry into force on 1 January 2020 of a new International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulation requiring ships to switch from heavy fuel to more expensive low-sulphur alternatives, cruise lines have heavily invested in optimising their ships to reduce carbon emissions. The first ships powered by liquefied natural gas and methanol are already in operation. And they say there is no going back.

“During the pandemic, the industry has remained focused on its commitment to preserving the air and oceans in which it operates,” says Brian Salerno, senior vice president of maritime policy at the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). “With over US$23 billion invested in ships with new technologies and cleaner fuels, substantial progress has been achieved.”

“All the global regulations have changed, so now the lines can’t cut costs in the same way [...]. The laws for Antarctica are so strict, for example, that the cruise lines have changed the way they operate,” says Holland, adding that the track record of cruise lines has put them in the spotlight. “The magic pipe and other incidents have only increased scrutiny.”

The term ‘magic pipe’ refers to special devices hidden aboard the ships of Carnival, the world’s largest cruise line, which bypass the ship’s water treatment system, causing thousands of litres of oil-contaminated water to be discharged into the sea in violation of regulations. The company was fined for US$40 million, a record punishment for deliberate vessel pollution. While on ‘probation’ in 2019, Carnival was forced to pay an additional US$20 million for dumping contaminated waste in Bahamian waters.

Some experts thus remain sceptical, especially at a time when these companies are strapped for cash.

“The industry has a track record of cheating the system and paying hundreds of millions in fines rather than spending money on environmentally responsible systems. As a result, they have a credibility problem,” says Dr Ross A. Klein, professor of sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland and author of Paradise Lost at Sea: Rethinking Cruise Vacations.

Protecting workers

It’s impossible to talk about real changes to the industry without addressing working conditions. “We hope that the resumption of operations will coincide with an open conversation about how to improve the working and living conditions of seafarers on board,” said an International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) spokesperson.

In addition to the 100 or so passengers and crew who died of coronavirus-related causes, there have been at least half a dozen deaths among crew members stranded at sea. Most are presumed suicides, as Bloomberg has documented in an exhaustive investigation.

According to various media reports, over 40,000 crewmembers were stranded on cruise ships as of June of last year, out of a total of 400,000 stranded seafarers and dockworkers worldwide. The vast majority have since been repatriated thanks to the joint efforts of cruise lines, unions and national governments. Nonetheless, the ITF has warned cruise lines that have resumed operations or plan to do so in June that “such situations cannot be repeated”.

According to a statement by the ITF: “Cruise travel should only resume once proper health and safety measures have been introduced, and destination countries have committed to allowing seafarers ashore for medical care and crew changes. These companies need to learn from the mistakes that many of them made at the beginning of this pandemic.” On 26 March, the IMO called for seafarers to be prioritised for Covid-19 vaccinations.

In addition, the three major cruise lines often use a practice known as ‘flags of convenience,’ which involves registering ships in countries with relatively lax labour laws, such as the Bahamas, Panama or Bermuda. Long working hours, wages that rely heavily on tips, unpaid overtime and external arbitration in the event of disputes are common, making it difficult for seafarers to report any kind of labour abuse.

The fact that the majority of workers come from South-East Asia, the Caribbean or Eastern Europe, where wages are generally lower and job opportunities more limited, works in the cruise lines’ favour.

“The cruise industry is not going to change its business model […]. If you can have someone working 70 hours a week, seven days out of the week, for ten months for less than US$600 dollars [a month], why would you pay more?” says Klein. “Officers have had somewhat more protection during the Covid-19 crisis, but this is not the case for engine room workers, waiters or cleaners.”

Among the potential immediate improvements the ITF is proposing are better cabin conditions and strict control over working hours and contract lengths. Crewmembers say it would also help to have psychologists on board among the medical staff, rather than having to call a hotline.

In a study entitled Fear and Trembling of Cruise Ship Employees: Psychological Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health investigates the psychological effect the pandemic has had on cruise ship workers. Its findings revealed that the pandemic has exposed the “poor leadership” of cruise companies in human resource management, and that it is precisely the area of mental health and wellbeing of their employees that needs to be focused on.

The study confirms what many industry specialists have been saying: this moment presents an opportunity that cannot be squandered. As the report concludes: “The Covid-19 pandemic has created a unique opportunity for cruise line companies to revise their corporate culture, reinvent their business models, enhance their human resources management, develop and embrace the risk and crisis management strategies, and adopt sustainable development.”

This article has been translated from Spanish by Brandon Johnson