Port of Seattle suspends 2020 Alaska cruise season indefinitely amid public health emergency
The 2020 Alaska cruise season will be delayed indefinitely and won't start until after the COVID-19 outbreak and related public health emergency in Washington state have ended, the Port of Seattle said Tuesday.
The decision came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new research findings, revealing that traces of the coronavirus were found on board one cruise ship a full 17 days after all passengers had disembarked.
The port and cruise ship companies have already delayed several sailings from Seattle, but a wider, longer suspension of the spring-to-fall cruise season will deliver another massive economic body blow to the Puget Sound region and smaller communities in Alaska where the cruise ships call.
In Seattle, each homeport cruise ship sailing creates approximately $4 million in regional business activity, ranging from food and beverage suppliers to piano tuners. A full cruise season generates an economic impact of nearly $900 million statewide and supports 5,500 jobs, the port has previously estimated.
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