Bureau Veritas (BV) has been contracted by Carnival Corp to provide health and safety services to facilitate the return to cruising and to protect passengers and crew.
The support provided, which includes verification of safety and hygiene measures, will be based upon the expertise and experience built up by BV last year to address health protection and hygiene requirements on board passenger ships.
BV’s approach meets the specific requirements of the cruise market, addressing biological risks, as posed by COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
The class society will verify the procedures and protocols of Carnival Corp’s ships to identify and manage COVID-19 related risks in port, at embarkation and disembarkation points, and, on the ships.
Outbreak management planning will address necessary procedures for prevention, mitigation, and preparation to manage crew and passenger hygiene, wellbeing and health with clear definitions of responsibilities and roles.
BV’s initial work has been focused on ships operating under the Cunard, P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises brands that will resume cruises out of Southampton (pictured) under the Carnival UK banner giving assurance from BV’s independent verification of effective COVID-19 protocols.
Subsequent to the restart of UK cruise itineraries, it is anticipated that a return to operations will continue in global markets.
As an independent body, BV will verify COVID 19 protocols and procedures meeting guidelines enforced by national administrations, helping Carnival’s ships get back to global operations for all Carnival’s brands.
Carnival Corp’s Chief Maritime Officer, Bill Burke, said: “We are very appreciative of the support and collaboration given to us across our global brands by BV and the verification we will receive to underpin our framework of protocols for our resumption of sailing.”
“We provide procedures and measures to protect passengers, company personnel and other stakeholders as operations are resumed, helping ensure that appropriate health and safety standards are put in place,” added Matthieu de Tugny, BV’s President Marine & Offshore.
“We have been working across many industries as a group addressing these new safety and hygiene challenges and have combined this now extensive experience to our passenger ship and marine expertise to support Carnival.”
