The Pandemic and Two Ships

The origins of the COVID-19 pandemic have most commonly been traced to a wet market in Wuhan, China. In the first months of 2020, however, as the virus spread rapidly through global travel, cruise ships became another locus of contagion. Cruise ships, which are not typically newsworthy beyond holiday travel, suddenly became the subject of regular reporting. Fears of COVID-19 at sea first surfaced in February 2020 with the Diamond Princess. The vessel, which was carrying 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew, reported that passengers were suddenly falling ill. Being in Japanese waters at the time, the ship was forced to quarantine outside the port of Yokohama. In the final count, there were 712 positive cases of COVID-19 and 13 deaths reported on the Diamond Princess. At the time, this was the highest number of cases outside mainland China. Over the following months it soon became clear that the Diamond Princess was neither an exception nor an anomaly. By May 2020, forty cruise ships had positive cases. Between March 2020 and March 2021, CruiseMapper (2021) reported 3,519 COVID-19 cases and seventy-three deaths aboard cruise ships.