WARREN – Seeing his two cruise vessels at the docks, with the prospects of no passengers on the horizon for the significant future, is already very hard for Blount Small Ship Adventures Vice President Peter Palumbo to ponder.
But he watches and reads daily reports on the COVID-19 pandemic and recognizes how grueling the work environments local health care workers are dealing with regularly. He also knows medical personnel face an even bigger challenge than what they see in the hospitals: A lack of safe housing.
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“Obviously, they’re working hard on the frontline here and there’s a high risk of exposing their family [to the virus] when they get home,” Palumbo said Friday to Providence Business News.
Palumbo and his mother, Blount President Nancy Blount, came up with a plan to utilize the two ships in a way that will keep the health care workers safe – and above water.
The company announced that it has made available both the Grande Caribe and Grande Mariner cruise ships that can be used as temporary isolation housing for medical staff and first responders to help with the impacts of the ongoing pandemic in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Palumbo said the company has reached out to the emergency management agencies in both the Ocean and Bay states offering Blount’s services to help temporarily the health care workers but is still awaiting replies from both entities if the ships could be used to aid in the effort.
“We’re putting ourselves out there and hope that we can provide that service to whoever needs it,” Palumbo said. “We’re just trying to offer whatever we can to do our part.”
If Blount gets the OKs, each ship would be able to safely house 60 workers in private staterooms, Palumbo said, and the workers would be offered food and beverage and cleaning services. Each of the rooms are equipped with their own heating and air conditioning, so there is “very little exchange” of air coming from adjacent rooms or hallways, Palumbo said
Palumbo also said the ships would sail directly to ports near where the hospitals are located to house the medical staffers.
“We were thinking a perfect location would be [Providence] Port, so it’s essentially walking distance to [Rhode Island] Hospital,” he said. “There’s also the option of India Point Park [in Providence], pretty much anywhere near the downtown facility.”
Palumbo also said the ships would sail to Quonset Point in North Kingstown to house medical personnel in the Washington County area or position itself in Newport for staffers at Newport Hospital. The ships would remain in one place unless they are needed to move, Palumbo said, and workers can “come and go as they please.”
Palumbo said Blount staff would also be increasing its cleaning efforts, such as wiping down all exposed areas, and also space out dining seats accordingly when meals are served in order to avoid any potential virus contamination on the vessels and with staff.
As far as Blount’s own regular operations going forward, Palumbo said the company is still “trying to figure out” what the company can do “to survive” through a pandemic taking place in a period where the weather is getting warmer. He still feels that even if the economy restarts, there’s going to be “everlasting effects” of people being leery of getting on a vessel.
“That’s resonating on our end and it’s something we’re quite nervous about,” Palumbo said. “So if that means we’re going to run a modified version of what we’re planning to run, that’s being discussed. Also, there’s the possibility of running a day cruise, taking people out for the day and getting some fresh air on the water for a couple hours.
“We’re still trying to figure things out as everything is coming at us so quickly. We’re just trying to juggle [things] one at a time.”
Providence Business News is spotlighting nonprofits, companies and workers stepping up to challenges presented by the spread of the new coronavirus.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
