Cruising getting back to business
Bureau Veritas is working with Carnival’s cruise brands, helping get ships back into operation, verifying safety and hygiene standards and measures onboard the global fleet
Bureau Veritas (BV), a world leader in testing, inspection, and certification (TIC), has been contracted by Carnival Corporation & PLC the world’s largest leisure travel company with a fleet of 87 ships visiting over 700 ports around the world, to provide health and safety services to facilitate the return to cruising, protecting passengers and crew.
The support provided, including verification of safety and hygiene measures, will be based upon the expertise and extensive experience built by Bureau Veritas in 2020 to address health protection and hygiene requirements on-board passenger ships. BV’s approach meets the specific requirements of the cruise market, addressing biological risks, as posed by COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
BV will verify the procedures and protocols of Carnival Corporation’s ships to identify and manage COVID-19 related risks in port, at embarkation and disembarkation points, and, of course, on the ships. Outbreak management planning will address necessary procedures for prevention, mitigation, and preparation to manage crew and passenger hygiene, wellbeing and health with clear definitions of responsibilities and roles.
BV’s initial work has been focused on ships operating under the Cunard, P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises brands that will resume cruises out of Southampton under Carnival UK with added assurance from BV’s independent verification of effective COVID-19 protocols.
Subsequent to the restart of UK cruise itineraries, it is anticipated that a return to operations will continue in global markets – BV as an independent body will verify COVID-19 protocols and procedures meeting guidelines enforced by national administrations, helping Carnival’s ships get back to global operations for all Carnival’s brands.
Carnival Corporation & PLC Chief Maritime Officer, Bill Burke said: “We are very appreciative of the support and collaboration given to us across our global brands by BV and the verification we will receive to underpin our framework of protocols for our resumption of sailing.”
Matthieu de Tugny, President Marine & Offshore at Bureau Veritas, added: “We provide procedures and measures to protect passengers, company personnel and other stakeholders as operations are resumed, helping ensure that appropriate health and safety standards are put in place. We have been working across many industries as a group addressing these new safety and hygiene challenges and have combined this now extensive experience to our passenger ship and marine expertise to support Carnival.”
World leader in laboratory testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has 75,000 employees located in more than 1,600 offices and laboratories around the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its clients improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility.