By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Carnival Cruise Line executives have told Tribune Business none of their ships were involved in causing damage to the seabed while at anchor off the Berry Islands.

Domenico Rognoni, Carnival’s vice-president of compliance, environmental and occupational safety, said the cruise line had provided all necessary information to the Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) and Port Department after concerns were raised that cruise ships moored in Bahamian waters amid the COVID-19 shutdown were damaging the environment via anchors dragging on the seabed.

“We have provided all the information, and based on our assessment and the information we are hearing from our sources, this incident didn’t include our fleet,” he added. “We co-operated fully with the Bahamas Maritime Authority, provided all the information they requested, and are in regular contact with the port controller at at all times.... about our ships’ location and where they are sheltering in The Bahamas.”

His comments came as Carnival said The Bahamas would likely be among the first destinations to benefit from pent-up demand that has pushed 2022 first half bookings higher than pre-COVID levels, even though its has further delayed its US restart through end-May 2021.

The cruise line, in written replies to Tribune Business, said: “We have seen significant pent-up demand for cruises from loyal guests who cannot wait for their next cruise vacation. Cruise bookings for the first half of 2022 are ahead of where they were in the first half of 2019, which was a very strong year for bookings overall.

“We know people are excited to cruise again - we have a recurring base of repeat guests representing a source of nearly eight million previous cruise-goers who have not been able to cruise for almost a full year, and we are encouraged to see demand and bookings from new guests as well. We expect The Bahamas to continue to be a popular destination for our guests.”

Carnival added: “When we restart we will do so gradually, with limited capacity and enhanced health and safety guidelines in place. As time goes on, we plan to expand our restart to eventually include all of our ships. The great news is that cruise demand is very robust and we expect The Bahamas to continue to be a popular destination for our guests.

“The CDC’s (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) Framework for Conditional Sailing order consists of several initial requirements that cruise ship operators must follow as part of the initial phases prior to resuming guest operations.

“As part of that process, 31 Carnival Corporation ships from four brands - Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Line, Holland America Line and Cunard - have completed the required precautionary 28-day period of enhanced public health protocols for crew, and a number of our ships have returned to US waters - an important step in our return to service.”

“However, at this time technical specifications and additional guidelines for future phases of the Framework have not yet been issued by the CDC. We will continue to work closely with the CDC to comply with all current and new requirements, although many uncertainties remain as to the specifics and timing of implementing the requirements.”