Irma Forces Cruise Operators to Reroute or Cancel Sailings in the Caribbean
September 05 2017 - 6:35PM
Dow Jones News
By Costas Paris
Hurricane Irma, which has intensified into a Category 5 storm
with winds up to 185 miles an hour, is forcing cruise lines to
cancel or divert sailings as it barrels toward popular Caribbean
destinations and the Florida coast.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. said Tuesday it plans to cut
short two Caribbean trips to avoid the storm. The 2,000-passenger
Norwegian Sky and the 4,250-passenger Norwegian Escape will return
to Miami on Thursday, instead of Friday and Saturday,
respectively.
Norwegian also said scheduled sailings of both ships over the
weekend were canceled. Guests will receive a refund for the missed
days and discounts for future cruises. "Safety and security of our
guests and crew is of the utmost importance," it said in a
statement.
Carnival Corp. revised the itineraries of four ships -- three on
weeklong sailings from Florida and one from Baltimore -- sending
them to westward Caribbean ports instead of eastern stopovers. "We
are watching Irma closely, but we are not canceling any sailings as
of now," a spokeswoman said.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is also rerouting one ship toward
western port calls and is evaluating five sailings to the
Caribbean, Bermuda and Cuba.
The National Hurricane Center said Irma is a "potentially
catastrophic storm" that will barrel toward the Virgin Islands and
Puerto Rico starting Thursday and make its way toward Turks and
Caicos, the Bahamas and Cuba later in the week.
The storm is also affecting sailings of Geneva-based MSC
Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Disney Cruise Line, whose ships are
skipping dockings in some Caribbean ports or diverting to other
destinations.
Tanker, container and dry bulk operators are also monitoring the
storm saying they will reroute ships as necessary. A number of
operators had to change sailings to the Texas coast last week to
avoid Hurricane Harvey.
"We are turning west to avoid Irma," said Anastasios Poulos, the
executive officer of a Greek-owned crude tanker sailing toward
Puerto Rico. "We've got very strong waves and winds. Hoses are
blowing off the ship. It's too dangerous to stay on the
course."
Write to Costas Paris at costas.paris@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 05, 2017 18:20 ET (22:20 GMT)
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