More cruise ships coming to Honolulu for food, fuel

At least three more cruise ships are expected to dock in Honolulu Harbor for fuel and provisions — but no disembarkations — with dozens of such ships stranded at sea worldwide and diverted from ports with and without passengers due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Next up for arrival is the 594-foot Oceania Cruises Regatta, which has been sitting for days off the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport reef runway, and will come into port after all the passengers on the Norwegian Jewel ship have disembarked.

The Regatta has no passengers, the state Department of Transportation Harbors Division said in a release. “The crew will remain on the vessel while at port. There have been no confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 associated with the vessel,” the state said.

The Seven Seas Navigator and Seven Seas Mariner also have requested to enter Honolulu Harbor for fuel and provisions, according to DOT Harbors.

Like the Regatta, no passengers are on either vessel. Crew members will be required to stay on the ships the entire time they are in port, the state said. There are no confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 on the ships.

The arrival dates for the ships are to be determined, DOT Harbors said.

“Additional cruise ships may port at Honolulu Harbor to refuel. Each case will be considered on an individual basis,” the state said.

The Regatta normally can carry about 700 passengers. According to cruisemapper.com, the Regatta was scheduled for a 10-day round trip from Papeete, Tahiti, sailing through French Polynesia before returning to Papeete on the March 15-25 sail.

Oceania says on its website, “Sleek and elegantly charming, Regatta is the flagship of the Oceania Cruises fleet. Her decks are resplendent in the finest teak, custom stone and tile work, and her lounges, suites and staterooms boast luxurious, neo-classical furnishings. Regatta offers every luxury you may expect on board one of our stylish ships.”

Oceania said the ship has 400 staff.

Approximately 2,000 passengers on the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship were being allowed to disembark in Honolulu after the ship experienced propulsion problems that require repairs, according to DOT. The disembarkation process started Monday and was expected to continue Tuesday — and was a reversal of the state’s earlier decision not to allow the passengers off. The passengers were bused immediately to charter flights at the Honolulu airport.

There were no confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 associated with the Norwegian Jewel, DOT said. Passengers embarked Feb. 28 in Sydney and were last able to disembark on Fiji on March 11.

Six Hawaii residents, and an injured passenger and her spouse, were allowed to leave the Holland America cruise ship Maasdam docked at Honolulu Harbor on Friday.

No passengers in the group of eight had a fever or displayed any coronavirus symptoms, DOT said. The Maasdam had about 850 passengers on board. The DOT said the remaining passengers would not be allowed to leave the ship.

Ship-tracking websites Tuesday showed the Maasdam heading across the Pacific toward the West Coast.

The state Senate Special Committee on COVID-19 held its first meeting last week and said, “Cruise ships are being allowed to come into Hawaii ports to refuel and resupply, but only Hawaii resident passengers will be allowed to disembark.”

Cruise ships to Hawaii are on a 30-day pause in operations that took effect March 14. Neither the Maasdam nor the Norwegian Jewel had originally planned to make Hawaii its final destination for passengers.

The DOT said there were 16 cruise ships that had canceled scheduled visits to Hawaii during the 30-day suspension in operations.