Next direction for Cruise ?
There has been no good news for the cruise market (frankly, and to the world) since the outbreak of conv-19. The horrible news of passengers being stuck on the cruise for weeks . In recent months most cruise companies are posting loss figures and we even see few local cruise lines already declared bankruptcy. However, the recent success of temporary hospitals in China and Hong Kong , could that be a new business opportunity ?
There are benefits when considering using cruise as a temporary hospital , first of all it’s already constructed with a compartment and basic utility facility ,while construction cost and time can be further reduced than building a real hospital on land.
Second , security is one of the key reasons for the second outbreak in most asian countries. In Hong Kong, news reports that there are some crew members who are waiting for crew change and decided to walk around with no mask on. In Singapore, one of the most strict rule countries, people are seen to ignore stay home notice and matching on the street . If the quarantine facility is on board then it can eliminate this issue. Unless they decide to escape through some serious open water swim, the chance of breaking of self quarantine can further be eliminated.
With the difficult time cruise companies are facing , maybe it’s a workable idea for the government to hire cruises than just build some temp hospitals for short term use; while the budget can be used to help cruise companies to pass through this dark time.
Until next time
