Scottish government U-turns on re-starting cruises
In a last minute decision, the Hollyrood government has announced that it has decided to keep Scotland’s ports closed to cruise ships.
The Scottish government has announced that it will keep its ports closed to large cruise ships, a day before MSC Cruises’ MSC Virtuosa was due to dock at Greenock to re-start the UK’s domestic cruise programme.
First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told the Hollyrood assembly that although progress had been made in containing the spread of coronavirus, the situation was “still fragile”. She added that “while all of these signs are very positive, there is a need for continued caution.”
Domestic cruises will only be permitted to re-start when all of Scotland reaches “level one” on its national scale of one to four.
“We’re now facing the situation where Scottish passengers who joined the cruise in Liverpool are barred from setting foot in their own country,” said Joanne Dooey, president of The Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA).
“The Scottish Government has effectively closed the country’s borders to anything other than road travel. The irony is that any of these passengers can get in a car and drive from Southampton to Inverclyde with no testing, border control, or vaccinations.”
