The Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Cruises) announced today that three upcoming voyages on the cruise ship Asuka II are suspended after one crew member tested positive for Covid-19. According to the company statement, the crew member underwent three polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for coronavirus before boarding, and all results were negative. The crew member is undergoing medical treatment at an onshore hospital and doesn’t have serious symptoms or fever.

The new Indian start-up company, Cordelia Cruises plans to set sail in May 2021, with short coastal voyages on board the recently purchased Royal Caribbean cruise ship Empress of the Seas. 

Dream Cruises and Singapore Marina Bay Cruise Centre have welcomed 100,000th cruise passenger since the restart of the global shutdown of the cruise industry, safely piloting cruises in the city. The first cruise ship to restart voyages out of Singapore was World Dream setting sail for the first time on 6 November 2020.

Today Viking announced that the company will restart limited cruise operations in May 2021 with three special sailings along the coast of England. These cruises will be offered exclusively for UK residents and will include eight-day ocean itinerary—England's Scenic Shores—sailing roundtrip from Portsmouth, with departures on May 22, May 29 and June 5, 2021.

Important Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) and the Government of India represented by Director General of Shipping Mr. Shri Amitabh Kumar, during the Maritime India Summit (MIS) held from 2nd-4th March 2021.

Croatian Institute for Public Health announced that it will prioritize maritime personnel to receive Covid-19 vaccines in the third phase. According to the director of the Institute Dr. Vladimir Mićović, the vaccination of Croatian seafarers should start in May 2021.

The residential community at sea Storylines will not proceed with the idea of implementing sleeping pods for crew members after overwhelmingly negative responses to the survey.

The start-up luxury residential community at sea Storylines, which is set to debut in 2023 with the cruise ship M/V Narrative has recently created a survey targeting the crew members. The goal is to evaluate the mental health, productivity, safety of the shipboard employees with a focus on the crew living quarters.

The race to get the Covid-19 vaccine by the major corporations around the world has started before the worldwide rollouts begun. This is most evident across the United States where major corporations such as Amazon, Lyft and Uber are lobbying states and the federal government to designate their employees as essential workers and place them in line for early immunization.