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Japan will lift a more than 21/2-year ban on foreign cruise shipments that was imposed following a fatal coronavirus outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship at the start of the pandemic, transportation officials said Tuesday.
The Ministry of Transport said cruise operators and port authority associations have followed antivirus rules and that Japan is now in a position to resume foreign cruise operations while receiving foreign shipments at its ports.
“Japan is now in a position to resume receiving foreign cruise ships,” Transport and Tourism Minister Tetsuo Saito said. “We will create an environment that will allow tourists to enjoy their cruise without worrying about their stay in Japan. “
The exact cruise shipping schedule has been announced. Among the first, a Japanese shipment that will depart Yokohama in December for Mauritius and return in January.
Japan has banned foreign cruise ships since March 2020, after the outbreak on the Diamond Princess forced 3,711 passengers and crew members to quarantine on board for two weeks, another thirteen people died and more than 700 were infected.
Japan has opted to isolate the equipment and passengers while keeping them on board as a form of border control, but has also been criticized for turning the shipment into a virus incubator.
Cruise operators discuss more important points with the local government in their port access plans. The resumption of foreign cruise shipments to Japan comes more than a year after their return to the United States and Europe.
According to the new guidelines, all team members must have received 3 shots of the coronavirus vaccine, while the maximum number of passengers must be vaccinated at least twice. The directive also calls for full ventilation, distancing and disinfection of non-unusual areas.
Japan, after much delay from many other countries, reopened its borders to individual foreign tourists in October and the resumption of foreign cruise ship shipping operations will provide additional assistance to encourage tourism in the country that has been hit hard by the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, more than 2. 15 million cruise passengers visited Japan in 2019, according to the Ministry of Transport and Tourism.
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