Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco
With all discretion, and without yet issuing an official statement, the Mexican authorities authorized the repatriation of the crew of the Koningsdam, of the Hollan America Line. A cruise that takes more than two and a half months without knowing its destination and whose occupants only want to fly with their families, after the outbreak of the pandemic.
Crews on board who are in contact with Vallarta Opina have confirmed that the Koningsdam captain announced that they have authorized the humanitarian bridge this Wednesday. Today, at least 80 crew members have descended, most of them citizens of the European Union.
However, daily for the next six days, landing operations will be organized under strict sanitary protocols. Likewise, the shipping company and the port authority will coordinate the transfers from the cruise ship to the International Airport, from where charter flights paid by Holland America to their workers will return to the country where they belong.
An anonymous source, employed by the maritime terminal, also revealed to this newspaper that they had heard that a landing will be made from the cruise ship tomorrow, confirming this positive outcome of the situation from the ground.
The occupants of the ship, transferred from more cruise ships in different offshore maneuvers, are happy and excited to end their confinement at sea. There are more than 1,200 men and women of 70 nationalities, some with up to 80 days without touching dry land.
According to the United States government, this week there would still be some 94,000 crew members onboard more than 100 cruises in North American waters, waiting for a place to repatriate their occupants. In despair, there have already been 5 suicides and a hunger strike.
Source: vallartaopinaenlinea.com
The Mazatlan Post
