Which? report on Aurora

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Media Report dated Thu 1 Sep 2005

 

 

 

The Aurora: inspectors checking P&O's £200 million liner found out-

of-date veal. The ship caused a diplomatic row with Spain when it

docked in Gibraltar after a virus outbreak.

 

Cruise firms sail into health storm

 

SHAN ROSS

SHOCKING health hazards on board cruise ships are exposed by

consumer watchdogs today.

A report - Behind the Scenes in the Cruise Ship Galleys - published

by Which?, reveals poor hygiene and numerous health hazards

following random checks on 14 British cruise ships docking at UK

ports.

Inspectors found veal nearly a year out of date, cockroaches and

swarms of flies in food larders.

Which? obtained the findings under new freedom of information rules -

the only way to see the reports of UK port authority inspectors.

They are worrying because cruise ships have been at the centre of a

number of health alerts. In recent years, thousands of passengers

have fallen ill as a result of a virulent stomach virus that liners

seem unable to eradicate.

Many of the outbreaks have been caused by the Norovirus, a

gastrointestinal bug that causes fever, vomiting and diarrhoea for

up to 48 hours.

Which? is calling for Britain to follow the US by publishing all

cruise ship hygiene reports and tips on how to avoid being affected.

Liz Edwards, head of news at Which?, said: "We quite often read in

the Press about outbreaks of stomach bugs among passengers on cruise

ships. We long thought it was unfair that if passengers were booking

a cruise which had docked in the US, they could look at the site for

the inspection report. But if it had not docked in the States, you

could not get information on conditions.

"We decided to use the Freedom of Information Act to check on around

14 ships. A member of the public would have to go through the

request process for themselves, perhaps making five requests,

depending on what holiday brochures they were looking at.

"We would like to see reports on cruise ships carried out by

inspectors from the Ports Health Authority in the UK made freely

available to passengers in this country."

A spokesman for the Information Commissioner said yesterday that a

request for a ports inspection report would take around 20 days and

that charges for such requests started at £10, but may cost more if

each individual report was held separately.

The disturbing findings of health risks coincide with an increasing

number of Britons choosing cruises for their holidays. Over 1.1

million cruise bookings were made last year.

The report states that stomach bugs were not unusual on cruises, and

that last year there were at least 36 outbreaks reported

internationally. Bugs spread easily among passengers living in close-

quarters, which is why hygiene is paramount and ships are inspected.

In April, just before its maiden voyage, the Thomson Celebration at

Southampton was inspected by hygiene inspectors who

expressed "little confidence" in the ship's overall food-safety

controls.

The ship hit the headlines the following month after a plumbing

disaster meant that 230 toilets would not flush.

On the Caronia, a former Cunard ship sold to Saga and renamed Saga

Ruby, inspectors visiting in July last year discovered "cockroach

activity" had been logged by staff.

Which? says that one of the most shocking findings in its random

selection of reports was the P&O Cruises' £200 million liner Aurora.

In May last year, inspectors found veal thawing that was ten months

out of date along with some cheese and a frozen goose of uncertain

vintage.

Which? says that when UK inspectors checked Aurora's £170 million

sister ship Oceana in July last year, they saw large flies in the

larder.

The Fred Olsen ship Black Prince caused inspectors "huge concern"

last September because chillers for salad and fish were not cool

enough to store food safely and had not been so "for some time".

When Which? asked cruise companies for their reaction to the

findings, Thomson told them a food safety management system was now

in place on the Celebration as required.

Cunard said cockroaches could turn up in luggage or deliveries but

it had rigorous checks and dealt promptly with any found. It had not

found any more before it handed over the ship in November.

P&O admitted the old veal on Aurora should not have been there but

added that its date would have been rechecked before use. It had

clarified confusion over dates on the cheese and goose and found

they were safe. It said it now had equipment to kill flies in the

Oceana larder.

Fred Olsen said it acted immediately over the chillers and has since

increased checks.

The Norovirus stomach bug that hit the Aurora en route from

Southampton to the Mediterranean in October 2003 was one of the

highest-profile incidents in cruise ship history and also sparked

off a diplomatic incident.

Greek doctors ferried aid to 430 people struck down by the bug when

the liner was anchored off Athens after Greek officials barred the

76,000-ton liner from docking.

The vessel, carrying around 1,800 passengers and 800 crew, then

departed for Gibraltar.

However, Gibraltar became the centre of a political row after Spain

closed its border with the Rock following the ship's arrival.

Squads of National Police and paramilitary Civil Guards effectively

cut off the tiny British colony shortly before the Aurora arrived.

The move, the first time the border had been closed for more than 17

years, was attacked by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary,

as "unnecessary and unwelcome".

Peter Caruana, chief minister of Gibraltar, said British passengers

had been forced to "float around the Mediterranean like unwanted

refugees". He attacked the Spanish move, calling it unnecessary,

unreasoned and over the top.

"If Spain were not claiming sovereignty of Gibraltar, the frontier

would not be closed as a result of this incident."

The closure also stranded more than 4,000 Spaniards who cross the

border every day to work in Gibraltar.

Ana Pastor, the Spanish health minister, said the closure was a

preventive measure "so that no Spanish citizen runs any kind of

risk". The Spanish government reopened the border after the cruise

ship had left.