Viking Cruises launches onboard Covid-testing facility

Covid testing

Viking integrates onboard non-invasive PCR testing facility; meanwhile, more cruise liners cancel or suspend 2020 sailings as Covid-19 continues to cause trouble

Viking’s new onboard Covid-19-testing laboratory onboard its Viking Star can accommodate up to 930 passengers. The facility is doe to undergo a series of extensive tests to ensure the procedures and protocols are fully effective.

Onboard facilities provide flexible response to different destinations

“We have been working on this for a number of months, and today is important as it moves us one step closer to operating cruises again, without compromising the safety of our guests and crew,' said Matt Grimes, Vice-President of maritime operations for Viking.

“The recently announced guidelines [dictated by the CDC] are clearly aligned with our public health research, and we welcome the agency’s push toward testing, as we believe this is the only way to safely operate,” Grimes added. “In our view, continuous PCR testing, along with our extensive on-board hygiene protocols, will lead to making Viking ships a safe place to get away to and explore the world.”

Covid outbreak on French cruise ship

Ponant’s Le Jacques Cartier has docked in Marseille, France, after 13 cases of Covid-19 were reported on its recent sailing from Malta to Athens. Two crew members tested positive while the shop was in Syracuse, Italy, on the first night of its departure, and were immediately placed in isolation. After being held in Syracuse, the liner was allowed to return to France.

Further cruises suspended

Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and MSC Cruises USA have all suspended sailings scheduled to depart throughout the final months of 2020.

Elsewhere, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has extended the suspension of its voyages, effectively cancelling all 2020 sailings.

“With Covid-19 continuing to impact communities and ports around the globe, we have extended our voluntary temporary suspension of all voyages through December 2020 and previously on cruises on Norwegian Star, Norwegian Spirit, and Norwegian Dawn through March 2021,” the company wrote on its website.