Kingstown – The St Vincent and the Grenadines government has denied a United States-based airline permission to land here, dashing hopes that an estimated 300 nationals employed with a US-based cruise line, would have arrived here on Thursday.
The sailors, employed with the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd have already spent several weeks in isolation aboard cruise ships amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
They are now expected to sail home, rather than fly, and it will be weeks before they set sail, the cruise line has said.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, speaking on a radio programme here, said that his government would not permit the Miami airline to land two planes carrying the sailors because Kingstown had no information about their health status.
The government here has been in negotiations with Royal Caribbean to get the company to pay for 14 days’ quarantine of each sailor estimated at EC$150 per night.
Gonsalves read from an email from Bishen John, the chief executive officer of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Port Authority, who has been interfacing with Royal Caribbean, indicating that discussions had been ongoing with the cruise line and its Vice president Worldwide Port Operations, Captain Hernan Zini.
Zini had confirmed that Royal Caribbean has not received approval for the disembarking of crew members from the US-based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the prime minister cited John as saying.
Additionally, Royal Caribbean had not repatriated any of the crew members to any Caribbean destination following the CDC’s new “no sail” order on April 9, 2020.
Gonsalves said on Monday, Corsel Robertson, the chief executive officer of Argyle International Airport (AIA), received an email from Sany Rivera, ground services programme manager, at the Miami-based Swift Air.
In the email, Rivera told Robertson the “contract to bring nationals home is almost complete. Below please find the updated schedule of the original request”.
However, Gonsalves said while Swift Air had made the original request on April 13, nothing came of it.
In her email on Monday, Rivera asked Robertson whether the ground handling could occur at the updated times and dates. Rivera sent a schedule indicating that her airline was proposing to use two 737 aircraft on Thursday, April 30, to fly the Vincentians to AIA.
The flights were scheduled to land at 11:28 p.m. and 11:50 p.m. and leave within an hour of their arrival.
“Well, immediately, that happened, Corsel Robertson sent the information to Simone Keizer-Beache; the CMO [chief medical officer], sent it to me,” Gonsalves said, adding that he contacted John, who, in turn, contacted Royal Caribbean.
“When Bishen John contacted Royal Caribbean, Royal Caribbean said, ‘Listen we are not in a position to have any transfers done’,” Gonsalves said, adding that the cruise line cited an absence of approval from the CDC.
“I don’t know who is playing games or where any games are being played, if any games are being played, but Bishen John is being told something and Swift Air is sending something else.
“How can Swift Air send yesterday an email, they want clearance to come to the airport. Each of these two planes . . . can take up to 150.
“We don’t know anything about the health conditions, none of the things which we ask about hasn’t been addressed, so you bring them on the airport,” Gonsalves said.
“Thank God when Bishen contacted Royal Caribbean they said no, no, no, no, no, no but you know, look as though the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing? I didn’t want to go in as much detail as I’ve gone in here. I could go into more detail. But day by day, Sweet Jesus.
“Well of course, Swift Air will not be given permission to land. Their operation would not be allowed to land until they have done the following things; it’s a protocol,” Gonsalves said, adding that Zini subsequently wrote John indicating that he will send a letter with the latest information.
“The current thing is to do the repatriation by ship. This will take a few weeks before we can even depart from Florida. As soon as we draft our plan, we will send a letter with all relevant details and a formal request to conduct the repatriation,” Gonsalves quoted Zini as saying in an email to John.
The prime minister went on to repeat the protocol that the government has announced for the repatriation of sailors and oil rig workers.
Among other things, under the protocol, the returning nationals must have a certificate of health issued by the authorities in the country of departure. The certificate must indicate their COVID-19 status.
Kingstown must also have advance information about where each sailor plans to undergo the quarantine. The government has also indicated that it would prefer if the sailors stay at hotels or guest houses.
“Can you imagine 1 000 persons being across St Vincent and the Grenadines in private homes in a quarantine, how that will stretch the health and security resources of this country. You see the reason why you need to have that more centralised?”
He said while there are some 1 300 Vincentians working with Royal, “and we are grateful to Royal and I want to work this thing out properly with Royal”.
“But remember I have said before, please, I’m asking everybody concerned, including people who are working with Royal do not say or do anything which could undermine the negotiations, the discussions which we’re having with Royal or with any other cruise line for that matter.
“What is this vanity that persons are involved in to prove what? You’re not being helpful,” Gonsalves said. (CMC)