Demand Greater Oversight Of The Cruise Industry

Final signature count: 0

0 signatures toward our 0 goal

For many people, taking a cruise is the dream of a lifetime. But **dreams can quickly become nightmares, especially in the age of COVID-19**.  Just ask the thousands of passengers trapped aboard The Diamond Princess, MS Zaandam, and other cruise ships where **the virus erupted on board, quietly infecting passengers and crew**.1

Sadly, these cases were often exacerbated by cruise companies, many of which proved unable (or unwilling) to protect travelers in the face of disaster. Now former passengers allege **companies failed to warn them about the deadly virus circulating on board**; others say staff actively hid this information. Many people charge that ships failed to properly screen and quarantine sick passengers, **allowing infections flourish**, and risked employees' lives by refusing to offer protective gear.2,3

This corporate malfeasance even triggered a criminal investigation **in Australia**, **where 10 percent of all infections were traced to a single cruise ship.** Some of the Ruby Princess' 2,700 passengers were showing symptoms when the ship pulled into Sydney Harbor, but the captain failed to inform port officials of the contagion on board-- despite a legal obligation to do so. This deadly lapse allowed sick passengers to re-enter the population without proper screening, sparking a national outbreak. Later, more than 600 passengers and crew tested positive for COVID-19.4

**This profit-friendly approach is a unfortunate feature of the cruise industry,** where companies regularly incorporate outside the U.S. to avoid taxes, government oversight, environmental regulation, and paying living wages. In this case, they also ignored basic safety proceedures in order to fill their cabins while a pandemic brewed outside.5,6

“There is a level of greed on the part of these companies,” said Ross Klein, a professor who has written multiple books about the industry. “They want to make every penny – and **they make money when people are on the ships.**” Tragically, some passengers paid with their lives.7

Meanwhile, thousands of **crew members remain trapped onboard empty cruise ships** docked in U.S. ports and waters. "The cruise industry has an ongoing obligation for the care, safety and welfare of their seafarers," the Coast Guard wrote in a statement reminding operators of their duty to help 93,000 crew members still quarantined on empty vessels, although passengers have been evacuated.4

**Please sign this petition to demand greater oversight of the cruise industry**. **We can't let cruise companies keep prioritizing profit over human lives.**