The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has rolled out a new color-coded system for cruise ships, rating them for recent COVID-19 incidents. 

The CDC said that the “guidance and the commercial transportation attestation are only applicable to cruise ship operators with a complete and accurate No Sail Order response plan for crew management and for their ships that have met CDC’s criteria for a Green Ship.”

The system is said to be used to determine whether any remaining crew onboard the “Green Ships” will be able to go home via commercial flights. 

Green Ship Criteria

• No confirmed cases of COVID-19 or COVID-like illness for 28 days, as determined by a qualified medical professional.
• If the ship received ship-to-ship transfers within the past 28 days, crew must have come from a ship that had no confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like illness within the 28 days before the transfer occurred.
• If land-based crew embarked, they were immediately quarantined for 14 days upon embarking the ship.
• Note: To maintain Green status, ships must submit a weekly EDC form to CDC. Failure to submit, changes ship status to Red. Green ship status means that CDC believes the ship is currently unaffected by COVID-19 based on information provided by the cruise ship operator.

Yellow Ship Criteria

• Previously designated Green, but now has 1 or more COVID-like illness cases pending COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
• If PCR positive, status changes to Red (must sign attestation again after meeting criteria again)
• If PCR negative, status goes back to Green
• If crew with COVID-like illness are not tested by PCR or if results are not available within 1 week of the case being reported, status changes to Red.
• If the ship received ship-to-ship transfers within the past 28 days, crew must have come from a ship that had no confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like illness within the 28 days before the transfer occurred. If not, status changes to Red.
• If land-based crew embarked, they were immediately quarantined for 14 days upon embarking the ship. If not, status changes to Red.

Red Ship Criteria

• One or more cases of confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like Illness within the past 28 days, or ship received ship-to-ship transfers from a ship that had confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like illness within the 28 days before the transfer occurred, or if land-based crew embarked, they were not immediately quarantined for 14 days upon embarking the ship, or during the past 28 days, the ship missed one or more weekly submission of the EDC form.
• Note: Embarkation of passengers is strictly prohibited for all ships during the period of the No Sail Order and may result in suspension and revocation of this limited permission to operate in U.S. waters.