Biofoul: The Stowaway Turning Dream Cruises Into Trips to Nowhere

“Ships have just started operating again post-pandemic and it would be too early to say whether there is an increase or a decrease,” he said, adding that occasional issues with cruise ships and biofoul occurred before the pandemic.
Between January 2020 and September 2022, 6 percent of international vessels entering New Zealand were asked to address biofouling issues, Mr. Hallett said.
For the passengers of the Viking Orion, watching a dive team at work cleaning the ship’s hull was a particular highlight, especially after days spent sitting at sea, and with the Australian mainland in sight. “It was the best entertainment of the cruise, at that point,” said Christine Goff, a passenger from Denver, Colo, in a phone interview.
Over eight days, passengers aboard the Viking Orion were haunted by the ghosts of the trip they had been promised. Scheduled lectures, which went on as planned, delivered tantalizing introductions to the destinations they might never go to. Screens around the ship showed weather forecasts for the cities they would not visit. (The forecasts could not be taken down, ship officials said, because they were controlled by technicians in California who were on vacation.)
Cracks began to show. Passengers noticed fewer crew members, and were told that some had been waylaid by the coronavirus. At breakfast, passengers said that oatmeal had become watered down, and eggs and fresh fruit vanished from the buffet. Rumors abounded that the ship had run out of rum, whiskey and vodka, panicking those who did not want beer, wine or any other substitutes.
“It seems crazy to complain about it, because you could get steak and shrimp whatever you wanted,” said Ms. Goff. “But it was obvious that they were starting to be cautious.”
Ms. Goff and her husband resolved to make the most of their time on the ship, spending quality time together that, at home, might be eaten up by work and other commitments. “We’d have dinner, sit by the pool, go to the entertainment show in the evening,” she said. “We came home well-rested — there wasn’t much to do but rest.”