Canada bans cruises until February 2022
A bolt from the blue, a stance-the one made official today by the Canadian government-that is bound to [...]
A bolt from the blue, a stance-the one made official today by the Canadian government-that is bound to make a lot of noise.
In this article:
In a press release issued in the morning, a total ban was announced not only on boats with more than 100 people on board, but also on all boats starting from the smallest and capable of carrying more than 12 people.
With this ban until February 28, 2022, all non-essential recreational activities are effectively banned. In detail:
- Ban on recreational boats entering Arctic waters.
- Passenger ships carrying more than 12 people are prohibited from entering Arctic coastal waters, including Nunatsiavut, Nunavik and the Labrador coast.
- While cruise ships carrying more than 100 people will not be allowed to operate in Canadian waters.
In fact, this decree cancels the summer cruise season to the Arctic and Alaska; in particular, U.S. shipping companies, assuming they return to sailing, will not be able to organize cruises to Alaska leaving as usual from the port of Seattle.
The reason is that the navigation code governing the transportation of passengers obliges U.S. companies to make at least one stop in a foreign nation, so without the stop in Canadian waters it will be impossible to arrange the routes to Alaska that are so popular in the summertime.
"As Canadians continue to do their part to reduce the spread of Covid-19, our government continues to work hard to ensure that Canada's transportation system remains safe. Temporary bans on cruise ships and recreational vessels are essential to continue to protect the most vulnerable among our communities and avoid overwhelming our health systems. This is the right and responsible thing to do," said the Canadian transport minister.
