By EARYEL BOWLEG

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL environmental group has said the era of “flags of convenience” is over amid the COVID-19 pandemic, adding the government needs to rethink its relationship with the cruise industry.

The group also accused the government of taking no responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of people onboard Bahamian flagged ships and claimed this may have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus.

ReEarth, in a statement on its Facebook page, said much of the world now believes the Bahamas turns a blind eye to the cruise industry’s shortcomings at the expense of the health and safety of the crew, passengers and the environment in exchange for revenue.

This comes after the US Coast Guard told Bahamian-flagged ships to seek aid from this country first even if the ships are owned by Miami-based companies such as Carnival Corp, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean Ltd.

“You broke it, you own it. That seems to be the Coast Guard’s understandable sentiment,” reEarth noted.

The group also said: “Indeed, there would be push-back from the cruise industry against the governments of island nations attempting to change the status quo. COVID-19 acutely illustrates why now is the time to meet that push back head-on.

“We cannot escape the fact that in exchange for the sale of ‘flags of convenience,’ the Bahamas has some degree of legal responsibility for every man, woman and child aboard Bahamian vessels floating around randomly in our waters like plague ships of old.

“This is a serious responsibility. If the responsibility is ours, then we need to equip ourselves to meet our oversight duties in a meaningful, effective and timely way. As a cruise-port country, the message of the COVID-19 pandemic for us is clear: the era of flags of convenience is over. And we need to make changes in concert with our sister cruise port countries in the region, so that the cruise ships’ usual strategy of playing us off against each other is made obsolete.”

The International Transport Workers’ Federation recently took The Bahamas and Bermuda to task for what is described as “a shameful and unprecedented abdication of duty as flag states”.

Dave Heindel, chair of the ITF seafarers’ section, said: “Flag states have sovereignty over their vessels, but for the coronavirus-affected cruise ships responsibility has fallen on the port states, national governments of the passengers and crew or even a third country. For instance, the Braemar was refused to dock in its own territory, with the vessel sent to Cuba after its government authorised the offloading of passengers and crew."

MS Braemar sails under the Bahamas flag and made news last month after the Bahamian government did not permit the ship that had five people on board with COVID-19 to dock in the country. Eventually, the Cuban government allowed the ship to dock in Cuba.

Earlier this month, the government signalled that it will not accept people from ships stranded in Bahamian waters despite the US Coast Guard bulletin stating that foreign-flagged vessels should seek help from countries in which they are registered.

In a carefully worded statement, Transport Minister Renward Wells said the country would help people sheltering-in-place aboard cruise ships in its waters.

Mr Wells said in a statement: “The Bahamas has taken note of the United States Coast Guard Marine Safety Information Bulletin…giving guidance to foreign passenger vessels located in the Seventh District Area of Responsibility. The bulletin makes reference to Bahamas-registered vessels in the context of limited medical facilities ashore in Miami and vicinity.

“We in the Bahamas have had a long standing and ongoing relationship with the US Coast Guard based on mutual interest and respect. The Bahamas is one of the first countries to have cooperated closely with the Coast Guard in combating human trafficking, narcotic trafficking and other illicit activities.”

Mr Wells noted each party faces a unique challenge caused by the global pandemic and are “first and foremost” responsible for protecting their respective populations while doing its best to support people sheltering-in-place on board ships.

“We continue to work closely with the cruise industry,” he said earlier this month, noting this country’s flag represents more ships than any other registry in the world.