This year a US Cruise ship failed USPH inspection with record low 31 points (as a reminder all cruise ships that score 85 points or bellow fail this inspection. The US Cruise ship that failed big time was designed by William H. Hand, Jr., built by Hodgdon Brothers Shipyard, East Boothbay, ME Named Schooner Zodiac and launched in 1924. In 1982, this cruise ship was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is rigged as a Two-masted Gaff Topsail Schooner with 127 feet with topmast and has a sail area of 7000 square feet. The passenger capacity is 26 for overnight voyages and 49 for day sails. The Schooner Zodiac is home ported in the Historic Fairhaven Harbor area of Bellingham, Washington, and has occasional overnight trips to adjacent Canadian waters and ports, including a 12-day roundtrip to Desolation Sound in British Columbia. Because the Schooner Zodiac carries more than 13 passengers and has a foreign itinerary during the year, it has been determined that this ship falls in the parameters of the U.S. Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vessel Sanitation Program. The following are observations from the first part of the when the vessel returned from a voyage, and all day on 28 July 2014. This is the first USPHS / CDC / Vessel Sanitation Program inspection on this ship and represents a baseline assessment of this ship and its operations in relation to the 2011 VSP Operations Manual.
Here are some of the USPH violations of Schooner Zodiac:
Site: Provisions-Below Deck - Aft
Violation: Cardboard cased beer from the recent brewery tour was found on the deck of the storage area. A single length of copper pipe without joints is above the food storage bins on the starboard side of this storage room. Vent pipes for the fuel tank just forward of the food storage area are above a beverage storage bin. A fuel return line from the engine room is just behind this beverage storage bin.
Site: Provisions-Below Deck - Aft
Violation: Two red cabbages and several purple onions in the produce storage shelves were heavily contaminated with mold.
Site: Provisions-Below Deck - Aft
Violation: A heavy infestation of flies and fruit flies was noted in this food storage compartment. Attractants included the spoiled vegetables noted above and possibly a large number of empty glass beer growlers stored in the area from the just completed brewery tour.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship / Pantry
Violation: A case of wine bottles and beer bottles was found stored directly on the deck just inside the pantry door. An open bag of flour was noted in the upper port storage area with the top loosely folded over,
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship / Pantry
Violation: Numerous flies and fruit flies were found in this pantry.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship / Pantry
Violation: In the two-compartment reach-in cooler, ready-to-eat open potentially hazardous food, such as cheese had exceeded 24-hours since opening and did not include a seven day discard date. It was noted that this cooler was doing an excellent job of maintaining the potentially hazardous food at 36°F.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship / Pantry
Violation: Uncovered food was found in the reach-in cooler, including a dessert with strawberries and a large pan of spaghetti that had another pan sitting directly on top of the open spaghetti. Bags of produce and other food were found in standing stagnant water in the bottom of the reach-in cooler. Raw shell eggs were found in stored directly on the produce in the bottom compartment of the reach-in cooler. Transfer containers of food were not labeled with the product name.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship / Pantry
Violation: Cooling logs were not found for the spaghetti and other previously prepared potentially hazardous foods in this cooler.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship / Pantry
Violation: The cooler condensate was not draining out of the cooler and collecting in the bottom of the lower compartment of the unit.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship - Food Prep Area
Violation: Plates of butter and cookies were found stored in the far port aft cabinet without covers.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship - Food Prep Area
Violation: Clean utensils and tableware were also found in this cabinet with open food. Clean eating utensils were found in an open utensil tray on the shelf above the undercounter warewasher.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship - Food Prep Area
Violation: Non-food contact surfaces of the stoves were heavily soiled with old food debris.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship - Food Prep Area
Violation: A radio and portable music device were noted on the food preparation counter to the right of the dishwashing sink and in front of the spice and ingredient storage.
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship - Food Prep Area
Violation: The coffee maker is plumbed directly into the ship's water system without an appropriate backflow preventer. Though the coffee maker maintenance uses no cleaning chemicals, the manufacturer's installation instructions and the VSP Operations Manual advise: 'Food Code Manual of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), this equipment must be installed with adequate backflow prevention to comply with federal, state and local codes.'
Site: Potable Water-Bunkering / Production / Distribution - Chlorination and pH Adjustment
Violation: The ship does not have equipment to adjust and monitor the chlorine and pH in distribution. Initial distribution sample free chlorine results (mg/l) were as follows: On 07/27 - dining room water tap - 0.1. 07/28 - pax bunk 36/37 sink - 0.1; pax bunk 38/39 - 0.02; port head sink - 0.05; midship head sink 0.05; dining room water tap - 0.08; galley two-compartment sink - 0.06; crew area passageway common sink - 0.06; crew head sink - 0.04
Site: Galley-Below Deck - Midship / Pantry
Violation: In the two-compartment reach-in cooler, raw eggs were found stored immediately on top of ready-to-eat produce. The storage was unorganized and the cooler was very full.
Source:cdc.gov
