Tag Archives: Panama Canal

Cruise ship off Panama coast transfers passengers

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Canadian passengers Chris and Anna Joiner ask for help on board the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City, Panama, 27 March 2020
Canadian passengers on the Zaandam, Chris and Anna Joiner, asked their government for help

A cruise ship carrying more than 1,800 people off Panama has begun moving healthy passengers to another ship after four people died and two others tested positive for coronavirus.

The owners of the Zaandam, Holland America, said that more than 130 people on board had reported suffering “flu-like symptoms” and respiratory issues.

The Dutch-owned operator said it was transferring asymptomatic people to a sister ship.

It said this would avoid further cases.

The Zaandam and its sister ship the Rotterdam are both off the Pacific coast of Panama.

The Zaandam was planning to sail to Florida but got stuck after the Panamanian authorities said that no vessel with confirmed coronavirus cases on board could pass through the Panama Canal.

However, both ships were later granted permission to continue their journeys in order “to provide humanitarian help” – although the Panamanian authorities added that no passenger could disembark.

The company first announced its plan to “transfer groups of healthy Zaandam guests to [the] Rotterdam” in a statement on Facebook on Friday, adding that it would follow “strict protocols”.

It said that “four older guests” had died, but did not give further details about the causes of death.

“We received approval from Panamanian authorities to conduct ship-to-ship operations at anchor between the two vessels,” the statement reads.

An unspecified number of passengers – as well as medical supplies and staff – are being transferred between the vessels

Passengers on board Holland America's cruise ship Zaandam as it entered the Panama City bay, 27 March 2020
Hundreds of passengers without coronavirus symptoms are to be transferred to another ship

Holland America had earlier said that 53 guests and 85 crew members had reported influenza-like illness symptoms.

There were initially 1,243 guests and 586 crew onboard the Zaandam, including four doctors and four nurses, the company said.

The Panama Maritime Authority later said that passengers who were not displaying coronavirus symptoms could be transferred to the Rotterdam.

“It has been concluded that it does not represent any risk to our population since it will be carried out more than eight miles from the mainland,” the authority said, adding that the bodies of the deceased would remain on the Zaandam.

The cruise ship MS Zaandam is pictured as coronavirus disease outbreak continues in Panama City, 28 March 2020
The Zaandam has now been granted permission to pass through the Panama Canal

Gurvan Le Pavec, whose parents are onboard the Zaandam, said they have “zero contact with the outside world”, adding: “The only thing everyone is waiting for is a positive outcome and that all the passengers can disembark and go home.”

The Zaandam was on a South America cruise that departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 7 March.

On Friday, Panama reported that 14 people had so far died in the country after contracting Covid-19, with 786 confirmed cases of infection.

There are now more than 10,000 coronavirus cases in South America

Four Die on Holland America Cruise Ship

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MS Zaandam
MS Zaandam. Photo courtesy Holland America Line

reuters logoPANAMA CITY, March 27 (Reuters) – Four passengers have died on board the MS Zaandam, a cruise ship currently off the coast of Panama with dozens of guests suffering from influenza-like symptoms, at least two of whom have coronavirus, the vessel’s operator said on Friday.

Zaandam had been on a South American cruise that departed Argentina on March 7 and had been scheduled to end in San Antonio, Chile on March 21. Nobody has disembarked from the ship since it docked in Punta Arenas, Chile nearly two weeks ago.

Holland America Line, the operator, said in a statement it “can confirm that four older guests have passed away.”

Some 53 guests and 85 crew have reported to the medical centre with flu-like symptoms, the operator added, noting that “all ports” along Zaandam’s route are closed to cruise ships.

All told, there are 1,243 guests and 586 crew on board, as well as four doctors and four nurses, the statement said.

The cruise operator said it wants to transfer groups of healthy Zaandam passengers to its sister ship Rotterdam, which is now alongside the vessel of Panama.

Holland America Line said it was still working with the Panamanian authorities to see if it could get approval to transit the Panama Canal and sail to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Panama Canal Raises Rates Due to Drought Situation 

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 Coral Princess

The Panama Canal has added new fees and changed its reservation system to counter historic drought levels.

“Due to changing rainfall patterns and historic low water levels at Gatun Lake, the main source of water for the waterway, the Panama Canal today that it will implement a series of new measures beginning February 15 to sustain an operational level of water and provide reliability to customers while it implements a long-term solution to water,” said a statement from the Panama Canal Authority.

This past year’s rainfall was 20 per cent below the historic average and the fifth driest year in 70 years. It follows several years of lower than average rainfall coupled by a 10 per cent increase in water evaporation levels due to a 0.5-1.5 degree Celsius rise in temperature.

Without fee and operational changes, the Canal’s water levels are projected to drop to levels that would affect the Neopanamax and Panamax Locks. These new measures are intended to better provide reliability in water levels and therefore transit schedules.

A new freshwater fee will be applied to all vessels over 125 feet in length overall (LOA) that transit through the Panama Canal, and will include the following components: A fixed fee of $10,000 per transit and a variable fee ranging from a minimum of 1 per cent to a maximum of 10 per cent of the vessel’s toll will be applied depending on Gatun Lake levels at the time of transit (i.e. if the lake has a higher level, the percentage will be lower and vice versa).

The Panama Canal will adjust the number of daily reservation slots available to 27, replicating the total offered during lane outages.

The waterway will also require that each vessel pays its booking fee in full no later than 48 hours depending on the booking period.

A handling service fee will be applied to all visits for transit at the time they are created in the system. The processing fee will be applied as follows: For vessels 91 feet in beam and over: $5,000. For vessels over 125 feet LOA, but less than 91 feet in beam: $1,500.

The fee will be deducted from the vessel’s tolls invoice once the vessel begins transit. If the vessel cancels the visit and does not transit, the Vessel Visit Creation Fee will not be refunded. All visits created prior to February 15, 2020 will be honoured and will not be required to pay this fee.

“The decision to adopt such measures was taken following an evaluation of the impact of innovative techniques already instituted to save water used in the Canal’s operations. For example, the Panama Canal has been implementing cross-filling lockages, a technique that sends water between the two lanes at the Panamax Locks during transits and saves an amount of water equivalent to that used in six lockages each day,” the Panama Canal Authority said.