US judge grants injunction preventing CDC from enforcing no sail order

One week after the cruise industry returned to The Bahamas by way of Royal Caribbean International’s home porting, a US federal judge has granted an injunction preventing the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from enforcing its conditional sail order.

The state of Florida filed suit against the US federal government in April over the order, which has prevented cruise companies from operating from US ports for nearly a year and a half now.

US District Judge Steven Merryday last week granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the CDC from enforcing the order pending further legal action on a broader Florida lawsuit, the Associated Press has reported.

The ruling came one week after Royal Caribbean International’s (RCI) Adventure of the Seas left Nassau’s cruise port with more than 2,000 passengers and crew on a seven-day cruise through The Bahamas and the Caribbean, ahead of the company’s announced cruises from Florida ports beginning in July.

Last week, Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar lamented the impact of the CDC’s order on the country’s cruise sector, which accounts for the majority of visitors to The Bahamas annually.

“As you know, the CDC has prevented cruises from restarting for some time, and given the CDC’s seemingly disinterest in helping the cruise industry to get back on track, cruise industry executives were telling me a couple of months back to don’t expect cruises, starting from the United States, to resume until September, possibly November or even just before Christmas,” he said.

The CDC had recently approved applications by cruise companies for test sailings later this month and for regular sailings with special approval. Under the orders, cruise ship operators are required to request approval to conduct simulated voyages at least 30 days before the sail date. The duration of those cruises are expected to be between two to seven days.

Now with Merryday’s ruling, that requirement can be considered non-binding recommendations or guidelines for those companies.

The ruling is in effect until July 18.

Cruise companies have not yet spoken publicly on the ruling. 

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/us-judge-grants-injunction-preventing-cdc-from-enforcing-no-sail-order/