Bureau Veritas (BV) has been contracted by Carnival Corporation to provide health and safety services to facilitate the return to cruising, protecting passengers and crew, according to a press release. 

The support provided, including verification of safety and hygiene measures, will be based upon the expertise and extensive experience built by Bureau Veritas in 2020 to address health protection and hygiene requirements onboard passenger ships.

BV’s approach meets the specific requirements of the cruise market, addressing biological risks, as posed by COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

BV will verify the procedures and protocols of Carnival Corporation’s ships to identify and manage COVID-19 related risks in port, at embarkation and disembarkation points, and, of course, on the ships.

Outbreak management planning will address necessary procedures for prevention, mitigation, and preparation to manage crew and passenger hygiene, wellbeing and health with clear definitions of responsibilities and role, BV said, in a statement. 

BV’s initial work has been focused on ships operating under the Cunard, P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises brands that will resume cruises out of Southampton under Carnival UK with added assurance from BV’s independent verification of effective COVID-19 protocols.

Carnival Corporation Chief Maritime Officer Bill Burke said: “We are very appreciative of the support and collaboration given to us across our global brands by BV and the verification we will receive to underpin our framework of protocols for our resumption of sailing.”

Matthieu de Tugny, President Marine & Offshore at Bureau Veritas, added: “We provide procedures and measures to protect passengers, company personnel and other stakeholders as operations are resumed, helping ensure that appropriate health and safety standards are put in place. We have been working across many industries as a group addressing these new safety and hygiene challenges and have combined this now extensive experience to our passenger ship and marine expertise to support Carnival.”