RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Argentine government has approved the resumption of the Atlantic and Antarctica cruises from October 20, within the framework of the openings registered amid the second wave of the coronavirus.
The resolution was approved by Chief Cabinet Secretary Santiago Cafiero through Administrative Decision 834, published Tuesday in the Official Gazette.
“From October 20, 2021, the resumption of the activity of oceanic and Antarctic cruises will be established gradually and safely within the framework of the provisions of this administrative decision, the sanitary measures in force at the time of its implementation and subject to the recommendations issued by the National Health Authority,” the measure states.
The measure states that “in carrying out the activity in question, domestic, resident and foreign passengers and personnel concerned must comply with the conditions established and in force at the time of its implementation for the entry of persons into Argentina.”
It also states that “the provincial government and/or the competent national authority, as appropriate, will approve the operational plans established by the port authorities of their respective jurisdictions, in accordance with their sanitary response capacity and compliance with national sanitary guidelines, including a contingency plan.”
The recitals state that the Ministry of Tourism “has requested measures to resume the operation of bioceanic and Antarctic cruises, which are of great importance for the economic reactivation of the tourism sector.”
The administrative decision said that “the cruise company shall determine the maximum number of people allowed on board, taking into account the cargo capacity of the vessel and respecting the capacity established in the company’s protocol and confirmed by the health authority, and shall ensure that the social distance of 2 meters between them can be guaranteed at all times.”
Similarly, the cruise line should “provide flexibility in schedule changes and rescheduling of operations, depending on the epidemiological situation at the point of departure and destination.”