Monday, June 29, 2020 - 11:53 by ce-press
Three cruiseships have been anchored off the coast of Scheveningen - Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam and Zaandam and Seabourn Ovation - since mid-May.
After a major repatriation, in which many crew members were brought home, the ships are now waiting to resume sailing. The remaining crew are subject to strict COVID-19 measures and are not allowed to disembark.
To support those left on board, project director Anita Verwoest, director shore excursions Suzanne Fillekes and harbourmaster Cees Duvekot from Seaport The Hague-Scheveningen sailed out to the ships with some local produce: Hopjes from The Hague, herring from Scheveningen, Delft blue coffee mugs and stroopwafels in a tin with an image of The Girl with a Pearl Earring.
"If the crew cannot come to us, we will go to them," said Verwoest. “We want to let the crew know we are thinking of them and wish them lots of strength in this difficult time. We hope that you can sail again soon and of course we hope to welcome you and your guests back to our Royal City by the Sea in the near future.”
The crew still on board are a mixture of those maintaining the ships and those that have been unable to travel: 470 on Seabourn, 121 on Zaandam 121 and 130 on Nieuw Statendam.
