After our windy arrival, we had a dry morning in Tampa followed by a rainy afternoon. Apart from having our daily guest turn-over and stores loading we also had the bi-annual USPH inspection. Each cruise ship that calls at an USA port gets inspected twice a year by officials from the Department of United States Public Health. USPH is part of the larger CDC which basically looks after the National Health of the USA. These are also the officers who investigate outbreaks of NLV or the Noro virus on the ships and therefore it is not always possible for them to inspect each ship every six months. With the fact that the Veendam had spent the summer in Europe, our last inspection had been over a year ago.
Normally two officers board the ship and the inspection takes all day. Everything that relates to Food, Drink and Health is carefully inspected. All kitchens, store rooms, bars, pantries, swimming pool treatment rooms, mess rooms, restaurants and the hospital are visited. All logs are carefully scrutinized for the period of the six past months as these logs will indicate that we also conform to the USPH rules on a daily basis. The crew on board gets extensive training in these procedures and as the USPH manual runs into about 300 pages, there is a lot to learn. The manual gives very detailed requirements for each procedure that takes place on board.
When things are not in order, points are deducted from the total score. Maximum is 100 points and the fail level is 86 points. Scoring less then 86 points does not necessarily mean that a ship is unhealthy but that those on board are certainly not following the best practices of the USPH policies and thus opening themselves up to danger.
When the ships are getting older, the number of points scored is slowly going down. So brand new to fairly new ships can score the100. When the ships get older, there will be some cracked tiles, a dent in the wall or a piece of equipment that has malfunctioned on the day of the inspection. This has no influence on the Safety or the Health of the guest on board but as the requirements are so detailed, points are deducted. Those slightly older ships score normally between 95 to 97 points, when all is in good order ofcourse.
The Veendam scored 96 points this time, which is therefore a very good score for the age of the ship. For the crew it was a result to celebrate as all their hard work living up to the exacting USPH standards was rewarded. Also our Head office was pleased with the result.
The inspections are not over yet. This cruise we have the Dutch Port State Inspectors on board and a representative of Lloyds Register for the yearly safety inspection to renew all our ships certificates which form together the “passport of the ship” so we can sail anywhere we want to go.
It rained cats and dogs on departure from Tampa. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow in Key West. At least the weather forecast does indicate so.
April 8, 2008 at 4:31 am
Thank you for the interesting explanation of the USPH inspection. No doubt these various inspections produce some degree of anxiety for the crew and they must be relieved when they are over. When deficits are found, what is the procedure for making the necessary corrections? Can most be immediately corrected by the staff already on board or are there things that can only be addressed while the ship is in drydock?
While on leave, were you able to take some cruises simply as a passenger? I would enjoy hearing of your thoughts regarding other ships if you care to share them with us.