Under the difficult-to-shore cruise epidemic, 203 Chinese crew members wandered at sea for hundreds of days
203 Chinese crew members waiting for boarding at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
On the plane, some crew members wear protective clothing.
Passing through the clouds, Flight UM466 was about to land at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport.
This was the afternoon of July 26. The weather was sunny and hot. The 203 passengers on the plane breathed a sigh of relief at the moment they landed-because of the epidemic, they wandered at sea for more than 130 days. These were from Carnival Cruise Line. The Chinese crews of many cruise ships under the group finally returned home after going through various twists and turns.
Most of these 203 people are young people. They were scattered from different corners of China to the cruise ships one by one on the vast ocean. They were also gathered on the same ship because of the new coronavirus epidemic that swept the world. On the boat, after a long wait, go home together.
3 cancellations of charter flights
Stay at Kuala Lumpur Airport for 3 days
UM466 is a Boeing 767 aircraft belonging to Zimbabwe Airlines. Before boarding this plane, Yingxin and other 188 colleagues who were arranged on the GROWN PRINCESS had already experienced 3 cancellations of charter flights.
"The earliest I said was the return of the chartered flight on July 4th. On the 6th, I told us that it was cancelled. It was changed to July 10th, and then changed to the 16th on the 10th. The final notice was July 23rd." It was also because of the twists and turns. During the process, Yingxin didn't really believe that she could go home this time until she officially disembarked.
On the morning of July 23, in Port Klang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 189 Chinese crew members dragged their luggage off the Crown Princess and drove to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. They originally arranged to join 14 other Chinese crew members from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and then take flight UM466 back to China together.
But things have changed. "After arriving at the airport at around 12 noon on the 23rd, the ground crew said that the plane failed to take off." This news caused Yingxin to collapse on the spot. "I floated on the sea for more than 130 days and finally set foot on land, feeling that I could go home. But being blocked at this step, I feel very desperate."
That night, the 189 Chinese crew members were arranged to rest in a hotel near the airport, but the 14 Chinese crew members who flew to Kuala Lumpur from the Netherlands could only be trapped in the transit area.
The next day, the chartered flight was changed to another plane, but by 10:40 in the evening, everyone had not waited to board the plane. At this time, all 203 people have completed the luggage check-in and exit procedures.
Stayed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for 3 days. Finally, at 12 noon on July 26, they boarded flight UM466.
132 days at sea
Repeatedly changing feet never set foot on land
After the plane landed, Yingxin couldn't wait to make a WeChat call to her mother. On the other side of the phone, the mother calmly said "just come back." People on both sides of the phone have waited for these four words for more than 130 days.
Yingxin is 25 years old this year, with bright eyes and bright teeth. When the epidemic broke out, she was working as a croupier in the casino on the SEABOURN ODYSSEY cruise ship. She chose this position when she set off from China three years ago and set foot on the first cruise ship where she worked.
In fact, the Carnival Cruise Group, where Yingxin is located, is one of the core signs of the global outbreak of the new crown virus. In February 2020, the Diamond Princess subordinate to Carnival broke out, shocking the world. At this time, Yingxin’s Shibang was sailing in the Caribbean. This is a cruise ship that can accommodate more than 400 guests and has more than 300 employees. Yingxin is the only Chinese employee. On March 13, the Shibang ended its voyage early in Barbados. All guests disembarked and the crew were not allowed to disembark. Since then, Yingxin has been drifting on the sea for 132 days.
From March 13th to July 23rd, when they set foot on land, Yingxin was reincarnated on the three cruise ships Shibang, Valentin and Diamond Princess, and finally joined with more than 180 Chinese employees of Carnival Cruise Line. During these 132 days of drifting at sea, she had been transported by small boat for many intermediate transfers and never set foot on land.
Young Chinese crew
Meet in the ocean and become good friends
Xiaoying and Yingxin met on the Valentine.
Beginning in mid-March, the crew of the Shibang where Yingxin was located began to go home one after another. By mid-April, half of the employees on the Shibang were left. The Europeans were assigned to another ship, ready to go directly back to Europe. Some of the remaining employees will go to the guest rooms.
At the end of April, the Valentan sailed to Barbados, picked up Yingxin, and started heading for South Africa.
The Valentin belongs to the Holland America Cruise Line under the Carnival Group and is slightly larger than the Sempon. Before Yingxin boarded the ship, there were 3 Chinese employees on board. The young people met at sea and soon became familiar. Among them, Xiaoying, who was the same age as Yingxin, was a photographer on the Valentin. The two young girls became friends under extraordinary circumstances, and finally shared the same room in an isolated hotel in Guangzhou.
The Valentan sailed all the way south from Barbados to send South African employees back to China. It arrived at the Port of Cape Town on May 13 and then crossed the Indian Ocean, sending Indonesian employees back home in the middle. About half a month later, the Valentan arrived at the Port of Manila, Philippines.
Back in Asia, Yingxin, Xiaoying and others felt that they were one step closer to going home. On June 24, the Crown Princess arrived in Manila. A few days later, the four young Chinese on the Valentin were transferred to the ship. They found that most of the people on the Crown Princess were Chinese and came from the princess. Cruises, Holland America Cruises, Carnival Cruises, P&O Cruises and Shibang Cruises.
Obviously one step closer to going home. During this period, Xiaoying received a notice from the company that he had booked commercial flights for them to return home. She packed up her luggage excitedly, but in the end she didn't walk. "That flight needs to transit in Taiwan. After the outbreak began, Taiwan and Hong Kong will not allow non-local residents to transit."
Uncertain future
The global cruise industry has been hit hard by the epidemic
After the plane landed on July 26, 203 people were sent to two hotels in Guangzhou for centralized isolation. Yingxin and Xiaoying chose to live in the same room. For dinner that day, the two did not hesitate at all and chose to eat a barbecue.
Now that these 203 people have come back, the next question before us is where to go in the future? Xiaoying decided not to go back altogether, while Yingxin was going to find a job after the quarantine. As for whether she could return to work after the epidemic, she did not have much hope: "Our company has started selling cruise ships worldwide, so who else? Know how long it will take for the epidemic to end?"
However, there are still many Chinese employees of Carnival Cruise Line, hoping that this job can continue, and discussing privately the possibility of returning to work after the epidemic is over. As employees of the world's largest cruise group, behind them, the cruise industry is experiencing the biggest crisis in history.
Carnival has a total of 104 cruise ships, accounting for 45% of the global market share. According to calculations, the company needs 25 cruise ships to sail at full capacity to achieve a balance of payments. Since the beginning of this year, affected by the epidemic, Carnival has sold at least 13 cruise ships, and the stock price has plummeted.
The crisis is not only reflected in this company, the world's second-ranked Royal Caribbean Cruises is also in the same situation. In this company, 730 Chinese employees were trapped at sea and could not return to their homeland (cover news reported). Currently, of these 730 people, more than 200 have returned and landed at Xianyang Airport in Shaanxi Province on July 31, and more than 400 people are still waiting.
West China Metropolis Daily-Cover News Reporter Yang Xue