More than 40,000 cruise ship workers still stranded at sea amid coronavirus pandemic

FILE - In this March 31 photo, cruise ships are docked at PortMiami in Miami. Three months after the cruise industry shut down in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, 42,000 cruise ship workers are still stranded at sea. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Three months after the cruise industry stopped sailing in the heat of the coronavirus pandemic, 40,000 crew members are still stranded at sea – unpaid, with some still testing positive for the pathogen.

A variety of factors are holding up their repatriation, depending on what country they’re from and what country they are stranded near, The Miami Herald reported Sunday.

For some countries, especially in the Caribbean, the issue is highlighting inequities in the relationships between ports and cruise companies, enabling host nations to restructure their financial relationships, The Miami Herald said.

“This pandemic will force us to ask some fundamental questions about how we do business,” attorney and former Bahamian Parliament member Alfred Sears told The Miami Herald. “There ought to be a more balanced relationship.”

A month ago there were 100,000 stranded crew members, and they have slowly been getting home. The obstacles are related to border closures, countries’ refusal to incur repatriation costs such as paying for a two-week quarantine upon return, and public health officials’ fear of creating another outbreak by letting infected people in.

The lag is taking a toll on crew mental health, with at least two suicides among crew members.

For those making it home, the route is beyond circuitous. It took three ship transfers, four canceled flights an a plane malfunction for Royal Caribbean Cruises music director Bruno Cruells to make it home to Argentina after 80 days at sea, The Miami Herald said. He and 251 countrymen and women finally arrived there on June 3.

Carnival Cruise Line was able to get 3,000 workers to Croatia so they could make their way to their homes across Europe, The Herald said.

At the other extreme is the plight of nine people from Mauritia, who are stuck on the Carnival Island Princess. They have not been paid since April, The Miami Herald said, and they are in limbo while the government of Mauritius negotiates paid quarantine with the cruise companies.

No cruises are allowed in U.S. waters until after July 24, the Associated Press noted, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Royal Caribbean, Carnival and other cruise lines are aiming to start sailing again in early August, CNBC reported last month.