 Ruby Princess comes back inPanama Canal on 4 March 2024 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Bermuda | |
| Name | Ruby Princess |
| Owner |  Carnival Corporation & plc |
| Operator | Princess Cruises |
| Port of registry | Hamilton, Bermuda |
| Ordered | 2007 |
| Builder | Fincantieri,Monfalcone,Trieste[1][2] |
| Cost | US$400,000,000 |
| Yard number | 6150[3] |
| Laid down | June 2007 |
| Launched | 1 February 2008 |
| Sponsored by | Trista Sutter andRyan Sutter[4] |
| Christened | 6 November 2008 |
| Completed | October 2008 |
| Acquired | 23 October 2008 |
| Maiden voyage | 8 November 2008 |
| In service | November 2008 |
| Identification | |
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Crown-classcruise ship |
| Tonnage | 113,561 GT |
| Length | 951 ft (290 m) |
| Beam | 118 ft (36 m) |
| Draught | 8 m (26 ft) |
| Decks | 19 decks |
| Installed power | 4 × V12Wärtsilä Common Raildiesel generator, 2 × inline 8 Wärtsilä Common Rail diesel generators. |
| Propulsion | Twin propellers |
| Speed | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Capacity | 3,080 passengers |
| Crew | 1,100 |
Ruby Princess is aCrown-classcruise ship operated byPrincess Cruises, a subsidiary ofCarnival Corporation & plc. At 113,561 GT, the vessel is the third and last in a series of three ships, known as theCrown class, that was built with design modifications distinguishing them from their olderGrand-class sister ships. Delivered in 2008 by Italian shipbuilderFincantieri,Ruby Princess also became the ninth and finalGrand-class ship to join the Princess Cruises fleet.
Ruby Princess continued the modifiedGrand-class design with the Night Club moved just aft of the funnel, rather than suspended over the stern like the original designs.[7] By gross tonnage, she was the largest ship in the Princess fleet until the arrival of theRoyal Princess in 2013.[8]
Built by Italian shipbuilderFincantieri inMonfalcone andTrieste, Italy,Ruby Princess was delivered to Princess Cruises in Monfalcone on 23 October 2008. She set sail for her inaugural homeport ofPort Everglades inFort Lauderdale, Florida for an arrival of 4 November 2008,[9] where she was later christened on 6 November 2008 byThe Bachelorette starTrista Sutter and her husband,Ryan. The ship operated her maiden voyage on 8 November 2008 with a WesternCaribbean itinerary and concluded her inaugural season with a series of voyages in theMediterranean in summer 2009.[10]
The ship became infamous in 2020 during theCOVID-19 pandemic, as the source of over 10%of Australia's earlyCOVID-19 cases.[11] By August, the total number of deaths associated with the ship was 28 and the number of infections was estimated at no fewer than 900.[12] A cluster ofcases in New Zealand was also linked to the ship.
On 8 March 2020,Ruby Princess departedSydney, Australia for a 13-night cruise aroundNew Zealand. Intended ports of call wereFiordland National Park (scenic cruising),Port Chalmers (forDunedin),Akaroa,Wellington,Napier,Tauranga,Auckland, andPaihia (for theBay of Islands). The cruise was cut short on 15 March andRuby Princess returned direct to Sydney from Napier.[13]
Ruby Princess' visit to Napier on 15 March 2020 led to acluster of 16COVID-19 cases there.[14][15][16]
On 19 March 2020, the ship arrived back in Sydney,New South Wales two days early from the New Zealand cruise, docking at 3 a.m., as some COVID-19 swabs needed to be tested as an urgent matter.[17] The ship disembarked 2,700 passengers later that morning. The state health minister,Brad Hazzard announced on 20 March 2020 that 13 of the people on the ship had been tested for theSARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and 3 of them were positive. New South Wales health authorities asked all passengers to go into self-isolation.[18] It was announced on 24 March that one passenger had died and 133 on the ship had tested positive for the coronavirus.[19]
As of 30 March, at least 440 passengers had tested positive for the virus: 211 were in New South Wales, 71 in South Australia, 70 in Queensland, 43 in Western Australia, 22 in the Australian Capital Territory, 18 in Victoria, three in Tasmania and two in the Northern Territory.[20] By 31 March, five of them had died, one in the Australian Capital Territory, two in Tasmania, one in New South Wales and one in Queensland.[21] By 2 April, cases in New South Wales had risen to 337 passengers and 3 crew members, and total passenger cases had risen to at least 576,[22] excluding passengers who left Australia without being tested.
On 1 April, the ship was offPort Botany, New South Wales. TheInternational Transport Workers' Federation had called on the Australian government to allow the crew members to be disembarked so that they could be flown to their countries of residence. At that time there were 15,000 crew members in 18 cruise ships sitting off the Australian coast. Six fromRuby Princess had been medically evacuated.[23]Aspen Medical was contracted to carry out medical assessments on the ship and visited it on 2 April.[24]
Another three passengers from the ship were reported dead in New South Wales on 5 April,[25] and a fourth in Queensland.[26] Another died in Western Australia on 6 April[27] followed by one in Tasmania on 7 April,[28] bringing total deaths to 13.[29][27][28] The death toll reached 21 on 18 April 2020 with the death of a second man in the United States.[30] About 900 passengers from countries other than Australia left Sydney after the ships arrival there; few specifics are known about infections or deaths in this group.[31] The death toll was reported to have reached 22 on 13 May, with the death of an 81 year old passenger.[32] According to an inquiry by Bret Walker SC for the New South Wales government, the eventual death toll was at least 28, including eight from the United States.[33][34]
There had been 662 confirmed cases of the virus,[35] including 342 in New South Wales. 11 cases of secondary transmission from people infected on the ship had been reported, which had not led to any deaths.[25]
As of 8 April, the ship's crew of about 1,000 remained on board, with 200 exhibiting flu-like symptoms; 18 had tested positive for COVID-19. The vessel moored atPort Kembla on 5 April 2020.[36] 542 crew members were taken off the ship for repatriation to Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States between 21 and 23 April.[37][38] 190 members of the crew have tested positive for the virus.[39] The ship left Port Kembla on 23 April.[38] On 7 May, the ship arrived inManila and disembarked 214 Filipino crew members.[40]
On 5 April 2020,New South Wales Police Force launched acriminal investigation into whether the operator of the ship, Carnival Australia, violated theBiosecurity Act 2015 (Cwth) andNew South Wales state laws, by deliberately concealing COVID-19 cases.[26] A report byThe Guardian's Matilda Boseley commented: "Since the ship's 2,700 passengers were allowed to freely disembark in Sydney on 19 March, federal and state authorities have been pinballing blame."[41]
On 7 April 2020, it was reported that the New Zealand Prime Minister,Jacinda Ardern, had requestedCrown Law to check whether her country's laws had been broken.[42]
As of the evening of 8 April, 30 investigators had been assigned toStrike Force Bast, which was looking into theRuby Princess case: as to "the communications, actions, and other circumstances that led to the docking and disembarking of the vessel" without a quarantine.[43] The ship'svoyage data recorder had been seized.[36]
On 15 April, the NSW State Government announced a Special Commission of inquiry to investigate events surrounding theRuby Princess.[44] The Commission was headed bybarristerBret Walker.
The Commission held hearings on 22 and 23 April for crew members prior to the ship leavingPort Kembla forManila, late on 23 April.[45][46] It published its report on 14 August 2020.[33][47][further explanation needed]
The AustralianInspector-General of Biosecurity also conducted a review of at-border delivery of human biosecurity functions in regard to theRuby Princess incident. His report was released on 29 April 2021 and found that inspection protocols were not followed as unwell passengers should have been screened individually by following a checklist but this was not done.[48][49] The report made over 40 recommendations to improve Australia's human biosecurity management on ships.[50]
In April 2022,Ruby Princess and 52 other cruise ships were under investigation by theCDC for excessive COVID-19 outbreaks on board their vessels since the start of the year. In January, 12 passengers on aRuby Princess cruise to Mexico tested positive for the virus, while more than 70 people were found to have COVID-19 on the same ship after it returned from a trip to thePanama Canal in March. On a third cruise in April toHawaii, 143 passengers on theRuby Princess tested positive.[51]
Passengers on the Hawaii trip stated that it was quite clear that a large number of passengers were ill, but unless they self-reported, they were free to move around the ship. All people on the Hawaii cruise were vaccinated. One person was hospitalised.[51]
On 6 July 2023,Ruby Princess made "unexpected contact" with thePort of San Francisco's Pier 27, described as a "hard landing", while docking at the completion of a ten-day cruise toAlaska.[52] Theallision woke some passengers during the early morning arrival and punctured the aft hull of the ship.[53] Crews patched the hole the following day and the cruise line announced that it was "confident" the ship would soon be cleared to depart.[54][55] However, after theUnited States Coast Guard required additional repairs to be made, the ship's departure was delayed by a further 36 hours, until 9 July, reducing the intended ten-day Alaska voyage to seven days, with calls atKetchikan, Alaska andPrince Rupert, British Columbia only.[56][57][58]
The third case was not linked to overseas travel but did have a connection to the Cruise Ship – The Ruby Princess.
Dr Eyre said anyone who had COVID-19 symptoms and came into close contact for 15 minutes or longer with passengers from The Ruby Princess, which docked 15 March, Napier Port, and is now symptomatic should call their GP.
At least 11 passengers from ship have now died, more than 30% of Australia's total Covid-19 deaths
