Covid-19 leaves Kinross resident out at sea
“It’s been 85 days out at sea now since we last walked around on land, 85 days of uncertainty. Just like so many others our livelihoods as we knew it simply shut down. All ships are all anchored, not going anywhere, just out here waiting for the time to return to cruising.”
KINROSS – For local resident, Ms Bee Zietsman, working abroad for four months and then coming home for a couple of weeks is nothing but the norm.
However, little did she realise, like the rest of the world, Covid-19 would have an enormous effect on work, travel, livelihood and life in general. She had just left the country when the Covid-19 pandemic made media highlights late February.
Not knowing the severity and impact, she returned to Barbados for her new contract on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship early March.
“We boarded our cruise ship in March, but were informed the next day that all sailings had come to a halt and all cruise operations were at a standstill,” said Ms Zietsman.
With every country having pandemic measures in place, this had resulted in the cruise line industries being halted and left out at sea with crew members still on board.
In late March, Royal Caribbean placed all crew on all the vessels into precautionary 17 day quarantine.
“The first part of it was gruelling. A crew cabin can feel like a jail cell pretty quickly when you don’t have much with which to keep yourself busy.”
Fortunately the company, understanding the need for communication, opened up free internet access for all crew to remain connected to families, friends and the outside world.
“In the latter stages of the quarantine, we were permitted hourly fresh air breaks daily, but only in small groups at a time and very strict social distancing were enforced. This meant there was no use of elevators, no jogging, compulsory wearing of masks, sanitising and so on.
All of this was for the crew’s own safety and in line with the USA CDC (Centre for Disease Control) regulations.
“It’s been 85 days out at sea now since we last walked around on land, 85 days of uncertainty. Just like so many others, our livelihoods as we knew it simply shut down. All ships are anchored, not going anywhere, just out here waiting for the time to return to cruising.”
Ms Zietsman said the wait to come home has been long and tiresome and there is still no clear answer as to when they will be returning home to South Africa.
“Initially our flights were scheduled for late April, but unfortunately that date has changed many times with all the continuously shifting restrictions and variables.”
Just one of countless complications is the strict rules the US CDC have put in place to protect its citizens and borders from this unforgiving virus.
One of these conditions was that the cruise line CEOs agree to fines, penalties and even possible jail time if any one of the thousands of crew deviated from these rules during their repatriation.
“Obeying them yourself is easy enough, but relying on faith that all 30,000 plus crew members would abide 100 percent by the rules to get home is a whole other ball game. Nonetheless, our above and beyond company ended up agreeing, with the vision being to do whatever is needed to get us home safely.
The cruise line has even used a few ships to repatriate crew across the oceans to India, Philippines and the UK.
“The wait has been exhausting,” said Ms Zietsman.
“It’s been quite a rollercoaster ride packing our bags, then unpacking, living out of suitcases, moving from ship to ship, telling family we’re coming home only to follow up with disappointing calls about cancelled flights. But in the end all I can say is that I only have incredible praise for Royal Caribbean having done so much for us crew. I cannot imagine the incredible complexities of having to arrange flights for 30,000 employees who stem from 65 different countries, each one having its own unique requirements for allowing entry,” ended Ms Zietsman.
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