Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is using its pause of operations to conduct a double drydocking for the Hanseatic Spirit and Hanseatic Inspiration at Blohm+Voss, according to a company statement.

The company is taking the opportunity to do some routine work to the vessels, it announced. 

The Hanseatic Nature is expected in Hamburg on April 20, while the Hanseatic Inspiration is expected to sail into Hamburg on May 2 along with the Europa and Europa 2. The company’s fifth vessel, the Bremen, will remain off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand. 

The Hanseatic Nature will also bring crew home, having picked up colleagues from both the Hanseatic Inspiration and Europa in Barbados.

“We wanted to give as many crew members as we could the opportunity to return home as soon as possible. This posed a logistical challenge due to the suspension of flights and the travel restrictions in place currently. Therefore, we took matters into our own hands for the return transport and transformed the journey of our Hanseatic Nature into a crew cruise. So we are bringing our crew back to their families safe and well,” said Karl J. Pojer, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.

The Europa 2 will stay at a berth in Altona and the Europa will moor at the O’Swaldkai.

The company said it has not had guests onboard since March 21, having gotten over 1,000 guests home safely using charter flights.

To keep fit, the crew on the Hanseatic Nature have started a project called “Walk the Cruise.” The idea is for the crew to cover the entire distance of the ship’s journey on foot, until it reaches Hamburg, a total of 7,600 nautical miles (8,751 miles; 14,084 kilometers). Therefor, every day, on Deck 9 the 138 crew members are each walking, or jogging 28 laps of 135 meters (148 yards). That totals 3.8 kilometers (2.4 miles). They are keeping count on a list and at the end of the 27-day cruise, this should take them to 14,084 kilometers, or around 7,600 nautical miles.