Who was left aboard the “EMPTY” cruise ships during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Most of the world's 300 cruise ships were laid up and “empty” of passengers for almost a year. While the cruise ships didn’t have any passengers aboard, they weren’t really empty! Find out who was looking after all the laid up cruise ships. Learn who was aboard the laid up cruise ships and how they were living on board as well as what the crew were doing to keep the cruise ships maintained and ready to resume cruising when the cruise pause ended in 2022. Here’s a link to my video about Crew Repatriation that I mentioned in the video: https://youtu.be/gNw8gG-8oEg and you can also check out the IMO report declaring crew as essential workers: https://bit.ly/39W7HkK #cruisenews #history #maritimehistory #cruising #cruiseship ▶ SUBSCRIBE for regular cruise ship updates & maritime history: https://bit.ly/38BR2DK ▶ READ: My Maritime History books: https://bit.ly/3nISs3w - (I am the co-author of these books #notsponsored ) ▶ COLOUR IN: The Cunard Colouring Book: https://bit.ly/3nISs3w (I am the co-author of these books #notsponsored ) ▶ CHECK OUT my Cunard history website: https://www.chriscunard.com/ ▶ LEARN MORE about me: https://www.chrisframe.com.au/ In this video you will learn: ▶ Who is on board the laid up cruise ships - including the Captain, Chief Engineer, Officers and Crew. For most cruise ships, this will be made up of around 30 officers, with the rest being crew to undertake various roles. Additionally, in some jurisdictions a ship carrying more than 100 people will require a qualified medical practitioner – so most cruise ships also carry medical personnel aboard, even during layup. ▶ How long are officer and crew on board each cruise ship? In the early stages of the cruise pause some crew stayed aboard the ships for many months. Things became a little easier in August 2020 when the United Nation’s International Maritime Organisation declared seafarers as “essential workers”. This removed blockages in many areas, and greatly sped up the repatriation of crew. A new normal has been established, with crew changes now taking place regularly. Anyone joining the ship has to undergo rigorous COVID testing and daily symptom checks. In many jurisdictions, this includes a 14-day quarantine. ▶ What are the officers and crew doing aboard the laid up cruise ships during the cruise pause? Looking at the team who run the ship. This includes the Captain, Chief Engineer and officers, responsible for navigation, propulsion, power generation, maintenance, safety and maintaining a 24-hour watch. ▶ Why the cruise ships keep setting sail and changing locations? When a cruise ship sets sail, it can be to move to a new anchorage location, or to exchange water. They also go to sea when prevailing weather makes anchoring unsafe, or in response to a change of wind or sea conditions. ▶ What is it like living aboard the laid up cruise ships? Crew are being housed in passenger cabins aboard the laid up cruise ships. Most crew have a balcony and eat in the passenger buffet restaurant. Let’s look at why this is happening. ▶ Keeping the cruise ships safe, COVID safe, healthy and ready to set sail again. Also, most cruise lines now require crew to wear masks at all times – unless they’re in the privacy of their own cabin. — Music: YouTube Audio Library. Thumbnail Arrow Icon: Matt Scribner via Adobe Spark - CC. By Attribution. Thumbnail image of ships at anchor: Alison Morton. Additional Note: Details in this video are general in nature and may differ from ship to ship.