Canada Lifts Interim Ban On Cruise Ships After 1 And Half Years

Travellers from Canada are finally free to go on a cruise vacation. On Monday, Omar Alghabra, the Transport Minister, lifted the interim ban that had been stopping cruise ships from Canadian waters. This has restarted Canada’s cruise industry, permitting operators to re-open Alaska ports.

Around last February, Ottawa placed an interim order, wherein cruise ships that can carry over 100 passengers from Canada were banned to reduce the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus.

That decision closed down Alaska’s cruise ship ports, the world’s most popular cruise ship destination outside the Caribbean.

As both maritime and American laws forbid foreign-flagged vessels from carrying passengers between two ports directly within the same country, huge cruise operators that depart from the US cities relied on ports-of-call from Canada for keep0ing the voyages legal.

Irrespective of the origin of shipping line, most pleasure as well as merchant vessels have been registered beneath ‘flag states’. Only a little lower than half of the fleet worldwide is currently registered under the Marshall Islands, Liberia, Panama, or the Bahamas.

The cruise ship industry in Canada, per a press release, is responsible for adding approximately $4 billion to the Canadian economy. It also creates nearly 30,000 jobs.

Despite the ban getting lifted, the Canadian government urges citizens to avoid cruising outside the country.

Reference: torontosun.com