DELAYED: Cruises on the Costa del Sol Continue to Suffer the Chaos Caused by COVID Crisis

Cruises on the Costa del Sol continue to suffer from the chaotic consequences caused by the global COVID crisis. The cruise ship industry has been one of the worst affected by the crisis. Their large capacity and common use of shared space, as well as their frequent stops across various destinations, makes them the perfect incubator for transmitting the coronavirus.

Given the exceptional circumstances that we find ourselves in, cruises and their activity keep getting delayed by the Costa del Sol’s largest port – Malaga. The International Cruise Lines Association issued a statement a few days ago announcing an extension the suspension of all cruise activity at least until the end of October. This is the latest setback that cruise ships have dealt with in Spain’s Costa del Sol.

The issue with coronavirus and cruise ships is that once the virus has begun to spread on board, it is hard to quarantine everyone, and many people end up becoming infected. The following issue is that once a ship has been declared ‘COVID ridden’, no ports are willing to welcome the passengers and get them back to their homes.

During the initial chaos of the coronavirus crisis, many ships were left stranded with nowhere to go and hundreds of passengers on board. Already, amongst the few cruise ships that have set sail, some have already experienced the difficulty of keeping the vessel ‘COVID-free’.  A Norwegian cruise company, Hurtigruten, which offers expeditions across the Norwegian coast has suspended all of its cruise ship activity after 62 people, 41 crew members and 21 passengers, tested positive for the virus.