Royal Caribbean halts hiring in India as Covid instances enhance there

The cruise ship Mariner of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operated, was shown in 2018.

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Royal Caribbean Cruises is temporarily suspending all operations for its employees from India and, according to a report from the Crew Center, will suspend the employment in the country as more and more cases of Covid-19 are occurring there.

India reported a record number of coronavirus cases on Monday for the fifth consecutive year, with over 350,000 new infections over a 24-hour period and a total of 17 million infections in the country.

“It is always unfortunate when we have to cancel orders, but we believe that this is a prudent decision at this point in time,” quoted the Royal Caribbean International news agency, quoting a letter to the crew it had received. “It’s not the way we want to work, but it’s the reality of the quick changes we have to make for a variety of reasons, often unplanned and beyond our direct control.”

According to the crew center report, around 300 Indian crew members should be working on the company’s ship Anthem of the Seas as of May 3. A person familiar with the matter told the news agency that the crew would be provided accommodations under quarantine guidelines. Some of the workers have already been to St. Maarten, the report said.

A Royal Caribbean spokesman told CNBC in an email: “We are continuing to monitor the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, including travel restrictions to and from areas with a high fall rate. To ensure the health and safety of our crew ensure guests and residents of the destination we are visiting we are currently being extra careful with the movement of crew members from India to our ships due to the recent surge in COVID-19. “