Large cruise ships have stopped docking at Japanese ports due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
In early September, a new cruise ship terminal opened in Tokyo, but no major ships are scheduled to use it. The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry has drawn up guidelines to respond to the situation, aiming to once again have ships sailing around Japan and calling at different ports.
A preview event for the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal was held in late August, ahead of its opening on Sept. 10. "It's truly disappointing, as there was supposed to be a big fuss about the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics around this time," said Takaaki Yamazaki, the mayor of Koto Ward, Tokyo, which is home to the terminal.
Tokyo also has the Harumi Passenger Ship Terminal in Chuo Ward where cruise ships can enter. However, as the terminal is located inside the Rainbow Bridge over Tokyo Bay, large ships with a height of more than 50 meters above sea level cannot enter. Work to build a new terminal outside the bridge therefore started in 2015, with an eye on the Tokyo Games, which had been originally planned to take place this summer.
However, group infections occurred on cruise ships, such as the Diamond Princess, sailing in various parts of the country. Cruise ship operations have halted worldwide. Initially, the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal was scheduled to open on July 14, and about 50 ships had been expected to enter the terminal by the end of this year.
But the terminal has seen no ships come in so far. For the time being, its facilities will be used for such purposes as holding events and filming TV dramas. Its observation deck will be also open to the public.
"To restore demand for cruise ships, the coronavirus pandemic needs to be brought under control," a senior official of the Tokyo metropolitan government said. "We want to have [the terminal] go into full operation by the Olympics next summer."
-- 200 million yen per ship
According to the ministry, the number of cruise ships docking at domestic ports increased to about 3,000 in 2017 from about 1,000 in 2013. The figure remained at the same level in 2018 and 2019, but dropped to zero from March through late September this year.
Last year, about 2.15 million foreign nationals entered Japan via cruise ships. As many cruise ship passengers are wealthy, it is said that when a large ship carrying several thousand people docks at a port, it generates an economic ripple effect of 200 million yen there, according to a senior official of the metropolitan government.
Hakata Port had the highest number of port calls in Japan for four years straight from 2015. According to an estimate by the Fukuoka city government in 2018, the average economic ripple effect per port call was 340 million yen. In that year, the port had 279 such calls, for a total economic effect of 95 billion yen. But no cruise ships have docked at the port since Feb. 2.
The city government has included boosting the number of cruise ships docking at the port among its key policies. As no prospects have been in sight for the virus to be brought under control, the city government implemented its own procedures in June to allow the port to refuse the entry of a ship if some of the people on board have passports issued by countries hit by infectious diseases, or if the ship docked for a certain period of time in a country plagued by a viral outbreak.
"If many passengers become infected and hospitalized, local medical services could be strained," a city government official said. "Measures need to be taken until an effective treatment or other measures are established."
The Naha Port Authority is also considering tightening regulations for entering Naha Port, which topped the domestic list of port calls in 2019.
-- Guidelines for protecting ships
The guidelines, compiled by the ministry, call on cruise ship operators to take thorough preventive measures, such as ventilating and disinfecting their vessels. The ministry drew up the guidelines in cooperation with officials of cruise ship operators and experts on infectious diseases and crisis management.
Specifically, the guidelines require that passengers have their temperature checked at least once a day during cruises, and that passengers with abnormal health conditions be prevented from disembarking at ports of call. They also call for a third-party organization to check compliance and make that a requirement for resuming operations.
The guidelines will first cover cruise ships traveling around Japan. The ministry will aim to accept foreign ships under similar measures in the future.
The guidelines also require local governments that manage ports and harbors to prepare transportation methods for people infected with the new coronavirus and conduct training.
"Since no progress has been made in measures against infectious diseases on ships worldwide, the guidelines will help cruise ships operate and resume port calls. It's also necessary for the central and local governments to actively disseminate the guidelines to overseas operators and passengers to show that the system is in place," said Chieko Chiba, a professor at Shukutoku University and an expert on cruise ships.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
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