All major cruise shipping companies are facing financial struggles amid the ongoing pandemic. All river and ocean voyages have been paused since mid-March 2020, which experts estimate has resulted in a USD 23 billion (~EUR 19,5 B) loss to USA's Florida state economy.
According to Florida Ports Council VP of Governmental Affair Mike Rubin, "it's impacted a significant amount of people that are involved."
Back in March, the CDC agency (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) issued a no-sail order for cruise vessels, set to expire on September 30. However, major cruise shipowners - including Carnival and Royal Caribbean, have already canceled cruises in most countries through the end of October 2020.
Rubin added it impacted quite a bit of Florida and all sorts of industries were impacted by the loss of passenger operations.
Along with major cruise lines, seaports are also struggling. Florida Ports Council estimated 169,000+ port-supported jobs will be lost because of the pandemic. It's led Doug Wheeler (Florida Ports Council president) to send a letter to senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell about the upcoming relief package.
In his letter, Wheeler asks for USD 1,5 billion to be made available to United States seaports and another USD 2 billion to be made available to "other eligible maritime businesses."