- Author
- A.N. Other
- Subjects
- History - general
- Tags
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- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- June 2022 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
By Walter Burroughs
Until the viral pandemic of the 2020s cruising was the wonder of the travel industry; starting in earnest in the 1960s it became a worldwide phenomenon with ships of all sizes from 6000 passenger mega liners to 100 passenger adventure style ships taking off to all parts of the globe.
Some may argue this is not a naval story, but in observing a broader canvas, the spread of the virus acknowledges no borders and does not distinguish between naval and commercial vessels. Cruise ships greatly increase the number of vessels using our waters and port facilities. We should also be conscious that the cruise industry, with some political support, casts envious eyes over naval berthing facilities in Sydney. And, in recent times proposals have been made for the cruise industry to significantly increase its presence at the south coast port of Eden where navy has strategic ammunitioning facilities.
Virtues of Cruising
Where and when did it start? In 1844 the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) began offering round tickets from England to the Mediterranean with shore excursions at its ports of call. This was a dream come true with passengers offered relatively inexpensive and regular travel witnessing the delights of the ancient world and the Holy Land. One of the first aboard was the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, given a complimentary passage in the 516-ton sidewheel paddle steamer Iberia sailing in August 1844. Using the nom de plume Michael Angelo Titmarsh he wrote A Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo. Unusually the book commences with a dedication to Captain Samuel Lewis of SS Iberia, whom Thackeray held in high regard.
This great success was brought to an abrupt end by the Crimean War (1853 to 1856) when spare capacity was needed providing troop ships. Not much was heard of cruising until further endorsements followed in 1867 when another famous novelist, Mark Twain, recorded his experiences in The Innocents Abroad, recording a cruise in June 1867 from New York to the Mediterranean in the 1450-ton sidewheel steamer Quaker Hill. Some years later in 1897 the British Medical Journal wrote on the benefits of a West Indies cruise saying it provides ‘opportunities for recovering health’ and ‘the most delightful days of peace and leisure may be passed doing nothing’. This encouraged P&O to convert one of its older liners into the cruising yacht Vectis and to start cruises to the Norwegian fiords and the West Indies.
The First World War put an end to cruising and its gradual restart became a pastime for the elite escaping from the cold northern European and American winters to the warmth of the Mediterranean and the West Indies. Surprisingly it was the Great Depression that brought it into favour with a larger dynamic of public support. During this period passenger ships were being laid up for lack of clientele so with spare tonnage available why not offer short duration low-cost cruises to interesting and sunny destinations to dispel the economic doom and gloom that permeated much of the industrialised world. This at least provided some profit to shipowners in difficult economic times.
Early Australian Cruising
And so it was that during the maiden voyage of the Peninsula & Oriental Steamship Company’s 22,284-ton RMS Strathaird which docked in Sydney in December 1932, just after the opening of the Harbour Bridge, that a small change was made to her programme. With only a few days’ notice this stately gleaming white ship with her three funnels (only the middle funnel was used with the others being for show) advertised a short five-day cruise from Sydney to Brisbane and Norfolk Island then returning to Sydney.
Advertising was successful, and filled to capacity with 1100 passengers, Strathaird sailed for a Christmas cruise on 23 December 1932. For the residents of Norfolk Island this was a great event, as they had never seen such a mighty ship. In the days before specialised tenders, passengers were ferried ashore using the ship’s lifeboats.
In his official report the Administrator of Norfolk Island (Captain Charles Pinney MC) says: A fillip was given to the tourist trade by the visit of RMS Strathaird on Boxing Day. The Strathaird lay off Kingston for twelve hours, and during that time over 1000 tourists landed and visited the numerous points of historic and scenic interest on the island. Several hundred residents visited the liner during the day, and it is worthy of note that such an exceptional number of persons – passengers and residents – were transported to and from without hitch or delay.
This experiment was the start of the Australian cruise industry which resulted in other ships similarly changing their itineraries during the remainder of the 1930s and extending their time on the Australian coast while short cruises were made to Fiji, Papua, the Solomons and New Zealand. The regular trading companies servicing the Pacific Islands such as Burns Philp began advertising cruises to ports covered by their ships and in concert with other liner companies including those from Japan.
Post War Cruising
Passenger ships that survived WWII were busy returning troops and displaced persons to their homelands and then came a new important trade taking migrants from war-torn Europe to new homes in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. But with the advent of jet engine aircraft in the 1960s long-haul shipborne passenger traffic became uneconomic and entered terminal decline.
This gave rise to the era of one-class ships offering comfortable travel with good food and entertainment – a holiday camp afloat – which proved immensely popular. A further niche market was found with luxury travel for more expensive cruises catering for a discerning clientele. And finally, television advertising played an important part in helping popularise a romantic ideal in the Love Boat series using Pacific Princess.
Carnival Cruises
A glimpse into the life of Theodore (Ted) Arison born in Tel Aviv in 1924 provides a snapshot of the rise of the modern cruise industry. During WWII Ted Arison fought in the Jewish Brigade in the British Army and afterwards served in the Israel Defence Forces rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In commercial life he worked for a local shipping company before moving to the United States in 1954 and settling in Florida.
In 1966 Ted Arison ventured into the cruise business in partnership with the Norwegian Knut Kloster who had a redundant ferry Sunward which had operated between England and Spain. The ferry was transferred to the newly formed Norwegian Cruise Lines with its only ship Sunward operating between Miami and The Bahamas. This successful business built up to three vessels and in 1970 they purchased the new ship Southward which entered service taking passengers on two-week Caribbean cruises.
With a rapidly expanding business Arison raised sufficient capital to purchase the retired liner Empress of Canada and renamed her Mardi Gras, giving rise to the new venture Carnival Cruises. Two other slightly used liners joined the fleet but their first purpose-built ship, the 1400 passenger Tropicale, entered service in 1982. The scene was set, aimed at the American heartland with informality, entertainment, cheerful colours, retail outlets, nightclubs and casinos. The ship was the destination and it did not matter too much where they went as long as the sun shone.
Ted Arison retired in 1990, handing the reins to his son Micky who further expanded the portfolio by the addition of Princess Cruises. The big coup came in 1998 with the acquisition of the prestigious Cunard Line with its famous Queens,and in 2003, Carnival acquired P&O Cruises, making it the world’s largest cruise company.
Growth of the Cruise Industry
In September 1977 an American television show The Love Boat became a marketing dream making Princess Cruises and Pacific Princess with her distinctive ‘Sea Witch’ logo household names, and a huge younger demographic embraced cruising.
The leisure travel industry grew exponentially over the past decade with the cruise industry being an outstanding performer, rising from about 18 million passengers in 2009 to about 30 million carried globally in 2019. At the beginning of 2020 no less than 55 cruise companies were operating more than 300 ocean going cruise ships. In addition, there are about 500 smaller inland and river cruise vessels. However, the industry is monopolised by three groups, the American owned Carnival, the German and Spanish Royal Caribbean and the American and Chinese Norwegian Cruise Line, which account for over 70% of the market. The industry operates on slim margins with most ships sailing under flags of convenience, with lax controls but considerable tax and labour law advantages. With ships sailing at near capacity vast profits are to be made.
Prior to March 2020 cruising was heading towards carrying 30 million passengers to nearly every corner of the globe, contributing US$134 billion to the world economy and supporting 1.2 million jobs. The Australian portion translated to A$5.2 billion accounting for 18,000 jobs. Australian cruise numbers peaked in 2018 at 1.35 million passengers, surprisingly declining to 1.24 million in 2019; growth was said to be impeded by berthing constraints, especially in Sydney. When the bubble burst in early 2020 the global economic value became virtually zero.
Pandemic impacts to the Cruise Industry
The coronavirus pandemic has placed the greatest strain on the cruise industry which for more than a year was virtually suspended resulting in huge financial losses not only to shipping companies but to tourism operators generally, supporting industries, and ship building and repair yards. Possibly the only winners were scrap yards which dispatched surplus tonnage. The industry is being kept afloat by generous financial backing sensing a gradual return to normality.
One of the most important control bodies is the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) which from July 2021 gave approval for a number of cruise ships to return providing limited services. While this appears to be working, as of late December 2021 it demonstrated that a significant number of ships were reporting cases of COVID-19 requiring CDC investigation.
Important Events
Australia’s first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on 25 January 2020 – one in Victoria and three in New South Wales, Queensland confirmed one case on 29 January and on 2 February South Australia had two cases.
1 February 2020: the Federal Government blocked the arrival of travellers who had transited through or who had been in mainland China.
3 February 2020: Diamond Princess quarantined at Yokohama anchorage as the disease spread and 712 persons tested positive to COVID-19, the largest cluster outside China, and nine died.
21 February 2020: Grand Princess quarantined off the Californian coast with fears of infection from its previous voyage. Ten passengers and eleven crew tested positive to COVID-19 and one died.
11 March 2020: the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 an international pandemic.
12 March 2020: Princess Cruises announced a 60-day suspension of its operations but as Ruby Princess was on the last leg of her cruise she proceeded on schedule.
18 March 2020: the Governor-General declared that a Human Biosecurity Emergency exists. The effect was to immediately close Commonwealth borders to foreign cruise ships.
The Ruby Princess Saga
The Australian scene has been coloured by the impact of one vessel in what has become known as the Ruby Princess Saga. Carnival had announced that it was basing 19 ships from its fleet in Australia, covering the Pacific cruise season from September 2019 to March 2020. Perhaps a desire for domination, where they saturated the market. As part of this process, in October 2019 Ruby Princess was based in Sydney and undertook a number of Pacific Island and New Zealand cruises.
On Sunday 8 March 2020 at 5.45 am Ruby Princess secured at Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal following a 13-day New Zealand cruise. Owing to concerns about respiratory illness on board, and that a few passengers and crew had visited places of high risk in the days prior to the ship’s departure, NSW Health categorised the ship as ‘Medium Risk’ in respect of infectious disease. Accordingly, NSW Health decided the ship should be inspected upon arrival.
Before arrival passengers were advised that those with respiratory issues or had been in certain high-risk countries up to fourteen days prior to departure should present themselves for testing on arrival. The eight-person NSW Health Team were surprised when 366 passengers assembled for screening. This resulted in six passengers and three crew being swabbed for COVID-19 and isolated on board. The remainder of the passengers were free to disembark. At 5.30 pm the results of the swabs proved ‘all clear’ and the remaining passengers were free to go ashore. In the meantime, the ship was subject to a deep clean which delayed their departure for another New Zealand cruise until 10.00 pm.
With 2700 passengers embarked all was well with visits to Fiordland, Dunedin, Akoroa and Napier but it was noticeable that there were no obvious precautions to checking arrivals at any of the above ports. Passengers reported sickness from Dunedin and by the time Napier was reached on 16 March the medical centre was becoming busy with those running high temperatures. As New Zealand authorities announced they were closing their borders the decision was made to curtail the remainder of the cruise and proceed to Sydney.
Arrival in Sydney
Before arrival Ruby Princess reported that 110 to 120 passengers were suffering from illness and all were isolated. Two passengers required ambulance transfers because of other complications. Despite the lessons which should have been learned from her previous voyage and those of the Diamond Princess and Grand Princess, NSW Health classified the ship as Low Risk and chose to allow it to berth at 2.30 am on Friday 19 March without any medical examination. Was it too difficult to assemble a medical team in the early hours of the morning?
From 7 am 2700 passengers plus 100 crew were free to disembark without screening and dispersed throughout Australia and overseas. This eventually led to more than 900 passengers and crew being diagnosed as infectious with the COVID-19 virus and 28 have since died, making it the largest single source of infection in Australia.
Later on Friday 19 March when 98 of her 1148 crew had disembarked to be repatriated to their homelands Ruby Princess sailed into 14 days of quarantine off the NSW coast. This was later changed as she docked at Port Kembla on 5 April and remained there until 23 April when she departed from Australian waters.
The Blame Game
Could this major disaster which began in the centre of Australia’s largest city have been prevented? With the heat turned up the New South Wales Government was obliged to take action and on 8 April 2020 announced ‘Strike Force Bast’ with NSW Police to investigate possible criminal negligence into the circumstances surrounding the docking and disembarkation of Ruby Princess. This appeared clearly aimed at Carnival and the investigation was expected to take six months. Only a week later on 15 April a more enlightened approach announced a ‘Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess’ led by the eminent jurist Bret Walker SC which was to report back to the Premier and Governor by 14 August 2020. An acknowledged failure of the Special Commission was that it could only request federal participation with officers providing written responses but unavailable for cross examination.
One of the enduring aspects of Australian federation is the inconsistency of legal responsibilities between Commonwealth and States. In the international shipping arena at the federal level, Border Force is involved in the traditional customs and immigration roles but has little to do with biosecurity, in fact they engaged the commercial company ‘Aspen Medical’ to advise on health issues. The Department of Agriculture, Water & Environment has responsibility for biosecurity. At the State level shipping movements involve the Port Authority of NSW, NSW Police and NSW Health. This overlapping bureaucracy can be confusing, increasing timelines and results in a dilution of responsibility.
Findings of the Special Commission
A pleasing feature of the Special Commission Report was it was delivered on time and publicly released on 15 August. Criticism mainly pointed towards NSW Health and its failure to remain abreast of current Communicable Disease Guidelines in a fast moving and dangerous global environment. As a result, Ruby Princess had not been informed of these changes when a critical risk assessment was performed which influenced the definition of suspected cases and the classification of the ship as Low Risk when she docked on 19 March 2020. With NSW Health taking no immediate action passengers were allowed to disembark without screening, ultimately leading to 900 infections and 28 deaths. The Report found that every passenger and crew member of Ruby Princess should have been tested for COVID-19 while quarantined.
Criticism of Carnival mostly surrounded its lack of awareness and support given its recent experience with Diamond Princess and Grand Princess. Carnival was well served by Dr. Ilge von Watzdorf, senior medical officer of Ruby Princess, seen as a credible witness exhausted by over work.
In response to the Report, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said: ‘I can’t imagine what it would be like having a loved one or being someone yourself who continues to suffer and experience trauma as a result…I want to apologise unreservedly to anybody who is continuing to suffer, or has suffered unimaginable loss because of mistakes that were made within our health agencies. The Premier went on to say: Not only have lessons been learnt, but clearly those circumstances should not have and will never happen again in New South Wales. NSW Police and possible coronial inquiries into Ruby Princess remain ongoing, to unknown timescales. Class actions against Carnival are under way in Australia and the United States.
Return of International Cruising in Australia
After a pause of two years, on 15 March 2022 the following media release was made:
‘On the basis of medical advice, the Australian Government will not renew the ban on international cruise ships arriving and departing from Australian ports, when the current determination expires on April 17.’
In March 2020, following the global spread of COVID-19, the Australian Government took an important step to protect the Australian community from COVID-19 by banning the entry of large international cruise vessels into Australia under the Biosecurity Act 2015. It has been highly effective in preventing and controlling the entry, emergence and spread of COVID-19 in Australian territory.
To ensure the safe return of international cruising to Australia, additional measures to reduce risk include:
Enhanced pre-arrival reporting and identification of COVID-19 risk through more questions of passengers and improved processes.
Amendments to the Biosecurity (Negative pratique) Instrument 2016 to ensure cruise vessels always arrive in negative pratique (that is, permission to unload passengers and cargo).
Stress testing of the emergency response system in relation to cruises.
Engaging with the cruise industry on safe resumption.
Passengers will be required to be double vaccinated.
National Cabinet has confirmed the positive progress by the eastern states and the cruise industry to develop appropriate health protocols and common guidelines to support a safe return to cruising.
International cruise ships will still need to meet all state and territory public health requirements of the jurisdiction into which they berth. States and territories will advise their readiness to receive cruise ships. Cruise industry mandates – including requiring passengers be vaccinated, implementation of appropriate operating and outbreak management plans, and COVID-19 safety plans – will also help reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission aboard cruise ships.
Latest Developments
After an absence of more than two years the federal government has lifted a ban on cruise liners operating from Australian ports. While it is up to individual states to implement this change, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland have agreed to once again welcome cruise vessels with the expected economic boost to the travel industry. With a steaming crew of 250 and without passengers, P&O’s Pacific Explorer berthed at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Sydney’s Circular Quay to much fanfare on Monday 18 April 2022 where it is preparing to recommence its schedule of passenger voyages from our shores as from Tuesday 31 May 2022. These six weeks will be spent ensuring the ship and her successors observe all necessary protocols to meet stringent environmental health requirements.
This is a remarkable milestone, as in the terms of our recent history, passenger ships and/or troopships have visited our shores regularly and never before has there been such a lengthy period of absence of shipping as caused by this pandemic.
Your correspondent was a passenger aboard Pacific Explorer during her last cruise from Sydney in January 2020 when she made a one-way passage to Singapore for routine docking. At this stage we were largely unaware of the impacts of coronavirus but it was not long into our voyage when things began to change.
On reaching Cairns all persons, passengers and crew, holding Chinese passports (about 100) had to leave the ship as Singaporean authorities had announced that they would be denied entry. When at Dili in Timor-Leste a local medical team was on the quay taking temperatures of all passengers and refusing entry to those who were suspect. This led to the ship cancelling further shore excursions. However, a day later in Indonesia it was business as usual, but at our final destination in Singapore, we fully appreciated the concerns of more stringent authorities. It was noteworthy that after a few days in Singapore we flew back to Sydney where seemingly no additional screening precautions were in place.
Pacific Explorer has spent the best part of two years at anchor off the coast of Cyprus together with a number of other cruise ships. It is now fitting that your correspondent once more ventures aboard this vessel for her inaugural shake-down cruise to the new international port terminal at Brisbane and then returns to Sydney. This correspondent pays his own way.
References
Cruise Lines International 2019 Global Market Report & 2021 State of Industry Outlook.
Dossier on the Cruise Industry Worldwide, Statista, Hamburg, 2021.
Media release on the International Cruise Industry by the Australian Government dated 15 March 2022.
Howarth, David & Howarth, Stephen, The Story of P & O, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1986.
McNab, Duncan, The Ruby Princess, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney, 2021.
Moskovska, Andriana, Australian Cruise Industry Statistics That Prove to be Plain Sailing, 06 Sept 2021.
Pinney, Charles, Robert, Norfolk Island – Report for the year 1932-33, Government Printer, Canberra.
Quarantine and the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020, Naval Historical Review, June 2020.
Titmarsh, M.A., A Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo, George Routledge & Sons, London, 1846.
Twain, Mark, The Innocents Abroad, American Publishing Company, Hartford, Conn., 1869.
Walker, Bret, Report of Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess, NSW Government, 14 August 2020.