The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) together with several major cruise lines are taking legal action against the German right-wing political party AfD after publishing a calendar with racist and xenophobic propaganda using photos of cruise ships. This "deportation calendar," titled "The Most Beautiful Deportation Ships," features pictures of cruise ships, some clearly showing company logos. The calendar includes slogans like "Right to a Homeland. We'll Bring You Back Too" and "Home Vacation Yes, But Without a Return Ticket." The party sold these calendars to supporters for €10.
Now, the AfD faces legal claims for damages, and the public prosecutor's office is investigating the case.
Carnival Cruise Line, one of the companies featured in the calendar, said: "We are shocked that photos of our ships, where people of various origins and cultures peacefully vacation and work together, have been misused for the xenophobic messages of the AfD." They emphasized that their ships represent values like openness and tolerance, which the AfD clearly does not share.
The German Bild shared several screenshots of the promo video posted by the party on Facebook which was later deleted. You can see a photo of the Carnival Mardi Gras included in the calendar for the month of January.
In the April section of the calendar, a photo of the MSC World Europa is shown with the headline: "Safe Escape Routes to the Homeland." MSC Cruises responded, stating that the image was used without consent and that their image rights were violated. "As a global company, we do not support the discriminatory and xenophobic messages of the calendar in any way. Our ship's image was used without our consent," MSC Cruises said.
This could be costly for the right-wing extremist party. Georg Ehrmann from the cruise association CLIA said, "Every company is taking action against the AfD individually to send a clear signal that they will not get away with this racist and disgusting behavior." The cruise companies could "demand compensation in the six-figure range."
People from all around the world work on these cruise ships, bringing together their cultures and values. As crew members, we know that this racist behavior has no place in our society. Our ships represent unity and bring values that should be celebrated, not tarnished by hate and intolerance.
