Mauritian crew members stranded on the cruise ship Norwegian Epic for over 3 months, finally received good news about their repatriation flights back home. A crew member sent us an announcement attached on the crew notice board with details regarding the repatriation flight scheduled on June 28. 

The cruise ship Costa Mediterranea arrived today off the coast of Jakarta to disembark the Indonesian crew members. Around 400 Indonesian crew members are doing disembarkation at 7 am on the morning escorted by the Indonesian navy and Coast Guard. The disembarkation procedure will take place 7 am to 12noon for all Indonesian crew members who will disembark today., and the ship will stay off the coast of Jakarta till tomorrow.

About 160 Indian crew members stranded for the past 90 days on the CMV cruise ship MV Astoria, has gone on hunger strike today. The crew staged a peaceful protest on the ship’s open deck asking their government and state officials to help them return home to their families. The seafarers further requested the government of India to immediately give an approval for a repatriation chartered flights.

Costa Cruises is preparing to restart a limited number of vessels in the upcoming month of August. According to an internal document obtained by Crew Center the company has addressed the crew who are still on board the ships asking them to continue, or extend original contracts and support this vital restart of operations. Several crew members mentioned that the company plans to restart first the cruise ships Costa Diadema and Costa Smeralda at the beginning of August.

A young Filipina crew member died yesterday morning on board the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Harmony of the Seas anchored off the coast of Barbados.

It Began on the 12th of March 2020. I Said Goodbye to My Family and embarked on another Adventure around the World, to Board the Carnival Panorama in LA and Cruise down the Mexican Riviera, sharing the Magick that is My Music and Stories...

About 600 Indian crew members stranded on the cruise ship Marella Explorer staged a peaceful protest today demanding their government to allow them to return home. The crew stuck on the cruise ships since the Covid-19 pandemic started, have not received repatriation approval by the Indian government to this day. Therefore they decided to stage a protest on the open deck to rise awareness and ask for their rights.

A group of 227 Indian crew members from Carnival Victory disembarked the ship yesterday at the port of Seville and took on a charter flight to Mumbai. The disembarkation and transfer of the Indian crew to the Seville airport was carried out on nine buses in order to avoid any setbacks and ensure the operation is conducted following all safety protocols by the health authorities. The flight took off on Friday at 8 pm, and the crew landed in Mumbai on Saturday morning at around 9:30 am.

There are well over 2000 Mauritians stranded on cruise ships and their government will not let them come home. Their country has had minimal Covid cases and as the world slowly reopens it borders, crew from Mauritius cannot even get home to their families.

The latest update regarding Costa Cruises repatriation plan for the Indonesian and Filipino crew members sailing on the Costa Mediterranea is that the ship will arrive in Indonesia on June 14, and The Philipines on June 22. A fellow crew member sailing on the Mediterranea sent us the following message: