Taiwan ends cruise ship ban

台灣解除郵輪禁令

Maritime and Port Bureau encourages international cruise ships to return to Taiwan soon


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese government has ended the ban on international cruise ships arriving and departing from the country’s ports and approved measures to reduce COVID-19 risks in hopes that international cruise ships will soon include Taiwan in their ports of call, the Maritime and Port Bureau (MPB) announced on Monday (Oct. 24).

The MPB said in a press release that the Central Epidemic Command Center on Monday approved the operational guidelines for cruise ships developed by the MPB and lifted the ban on cruise ships stopping in Taiwan, which had been in effect since Feb. 6, 2020, CNA reported.

The bureau will notify cruise lines and related industries of the operational guidelines and welcome cruise ships to return to Taiwan as soon as possible, per CNA.

The MPB said it had consulted the health protocols for cruise ships developed by the European Union, the U.S., and Australia to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.

Regarding operations at domestic ports, the guidelines state passengers should have received the latest recommended number of vaccine doses 14 days prior to boarding the ship and have negative results of rapid tests taken on the day of boarding or the previous day, according to the CNA report. If passengers have symptoms on the day of boarding, they should undergo another rapid test. Cruise lines should provide epidemic prevention kits.

The guidelines also stipulate that passengers should take a rapid test every three days during their voyage. However, the MPB said further discussion is needed with regard to who should actually check rapid test results.

Passengers who are self-health monitoring are advised not to board the ship, but if there is a need for them to do so, they should take a rapid test every two days after boarding until their self-health monitoring period ends. If passengers test positive for COVID-19 during the voyage, those with light symptoms should be isolated aboard the ship, and severe cases should leave the ship to seek medical attention.

For international cruise passengers who are entering Taiwan, the vaccine requirements are the same as those for passengers boarding within Taiwan, but they will have to provide negative results of rapid tests taken on the day of disembarking the ship or the previous day before they are allowed entry into the country. For passengers who show symptoms on the debarking day, another rapid test is required.

If there is a large outbreak of COVID-19 on board the ship, cruise lines should take measures in accordance with Taiwan authorities’ requests to adjust the route, limit the number of debarking passengers, or take other measures to reduce the risk of transmission, CNA quoted the MPB as saying.