Singapore Tourism Board (STB) began to explore new health and safety protocols that are expected to allow for the so-called "cruises to nowhere".
The new proposal comes after Singapore Airlines announced in September that they would offer 3-hour sightseeing "flights to nowhere" roundtrip from Singapore's Changi Airport. However, Singapore Airlines announced earlier they would not go ahead following criticism from local environmental campaigners.
STB reportedly hired DNV GL (Norway-based risk management company) to create a cruise compliance and certification scheme. It will be "benchmarked against global health, safety, and hygiene standards" to aid lines who want to start sailing from Singapore again.
Rachel Loh (STB's Regional Director of the Americas) advised that cruise shipping companies would need to pass an audit for certification to return to cruising, details of which would be announced at a later date. The report said that ships would only be allowed to accommodate ~50% of their max passenger capacity for the first 3 months of operation.
On September 30, the USA's agency CDC extended its "no-sail" (banning homeported in the USA cruise vessels) by another month - through October 31.
There is no official date for when "Singapore cruises to nowhere" will commence but operators homeporting in Singapore are eager to restart operations after voluntarily ceasing voyages until later in the year.