The cruiseship industry is in the eye of the media storm during the global coronavirus outbreak, with tales of passengers and crews trapped aboard vessels as ports turn them away making international headlines.

National governments and operators have appeared to be on the front line in looking to resolve the situation. But what of flag states?

Recent events prompted the International Transport Workers' Federation to call on them to do more.

Duty of care

David Heindel, chairman of the seafarers’ section at the ITF, said: “Attention needs to be called on the failure of the governments of Bermuda and the Bahamas in the cases of the Grand Princess and Braemar for not accepting their responsibility to remedy the problem for its sovereign vessels.

“There has been little or no mention of the responsibility and duty of care of flag state governments to assist seafarers employed on these vessels.”

Steve Bomgardner, global business director at the Bahamas Maritime Authority, refutes the suggestion the Bahamas flag state has not lived up to its obligations.

“There is a lot of work going on behind closed doors that people do not see, such as the work we have been doing with governments, the cruise operators and Cruise Lines International Association,” he said

The Bahamas government has also offered its territorial waters as a safe haven for cruiseships. There are currently 43 such vessels, not all of them under the Bahamas flag, taking refuge there.

“It’s been a great response from all sides, the important thing is to have communication,” Bomgardner said. “The best thing is for us to do is all work together.”

Quality open register

The allegation that the Bahamas flag may have been negligent is a particularly difficult one for Bomgardner, as it has always set out its stall as a quality open register.

The Bahamas flag accounts for about 23% of the world’s cruiseship fleet. With it total registered fleet of 63.6m gt, it is the world’s eighth largest ship register.

However, in recent years, its fleet size has remained fairly static. Bomgardner, formerly with the Liberian Registry, was taken on in January to help to develop the Bahamas fleet.

He said there is no pressure to dramatically increase tonnage, but he has been told the most important requirement is for the flag maintain its reputation.

The Bahamas flag is on the Paris and Tokyo MOU white list and holds US Coast Guard Qualship 21 recognition, which are all regarded as stamps of quality for port state control inspection performance.

Bomgardner said quality is now the key factor in winning business, adding that registration fees are no longer a concern for the majority of owners.

“Registration fees are such a small part of operating costs compared to other factors, it does not really matter for most owners,” he said.

Bomgardner added that the Bahamas is also an active member of the IMO, where its owners want it to take a proactive stance on issues such as crew exchanges.

He said it is also regarded as one of the flag states that takes its accident investigation seriously and follows the IMO guidelines on publishing accident reports — even if its findings may sometimes make uncomfortable reading for the owners of ships involved in casualties.

“We always try to be pretty transparent in what we do,” he said.