KUALA LUMPUR: Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Genting Cruise Lines has introduced enhanced preventive measures, which include the requirement for guests aged 70 years and above to provide a doctor’s certificate of fitness for travel on the group’s Dream Cruises and Star Cruises fleet.

In a statement yesterday (April 7), Genting Cruise Lines, a division under Hong Kong-listed Genting Hong Kong Ltd, said as the health and safety of Genting Cruise Lines’ guests and crew remain its top priority, various precautionary measures with stringent health screening processes in accordance with regional government policies had been implemented from the onset of the pandemic.

"As a result, to date, there have been no reported cases of Covid-19 among guests or crew, while on board or transmitted via any of Genting Cruise Lines’ ships.

"In order to further provide peace of mind and better understanding of the implemented precautionary measures for future cruising guests, Genting Cruise Lines has outlined detailed preventive steps for the recommencement of its Dream Cruises and Star Cruises ships in the near future, which is set to become the new norm for preventive standards for the fleet. These include stringent health screening processes and protocols prior to embarkation and disembarkation, as well as thorough sanitisation and disinfection and enhanced hygiene practices for guest cabins, various on-board public areas and recreational activities, food and beverage safety and also the health of its crew members,” Genting Cruise Lines said.

Genting Cruise Lines reiterated that its guests and crew’s health and safety across its fleet is of utmost importance. With these new standards and practices in place, Genting Cruise Lines said it is optimistic that the cruise industry will rebound from this temporary setback and regain the confidence of all cruise passengers, when operations resume.

Genting Cruise Lines president Kent Zhu said in the statement that due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak globally, many guests, as well as crew, have developed higher awareness and expectations with regards to the safety and preventive measures of cruise ships.

“As a responsible cruise company, it is our duty to adopt a pro-active approach to meet and also strive to exceed the growing expectations and concerns of the public. As such, we have carefully reviewed our prevention and response plan with the Covid-19 pandemic in mind, to devise and provide enhanced and comprehensive measures across our fleet. We have taken the positive opportunity during this hiatus period to also implement comprehensive crew training to reinforce effective cleaning procedures, health and hygiene protocols and efficient guest interaction, which we will adopt as the new safety norm for our fleet and we hope, for the industry too,” Zhu said.

At the Hong Kong bourse today, Genting Hong Kong’s share price closed up HK$0.02 or 4% at HK$0.39 for a market capitalisation of HK$3.31 billion (RM1.86 billion).

The stock saw 4.63 milion shares traded.

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