We are in Lockdown – kind of…

We are still in Majuro in the Marshall Islands. So far there are no cases of Coronavirus here.

There is no formal lockdown but the government and its departments have applied stringent and sensible restrictions to keep CV19 out. Authorities have come down hard on any international cargo boats that are not complying with the 14 day quarantine rule and all incoming international flights with passengers have been cancelled. The last international flight out was a couple of weeks ago and there may be another on 5th June. No-one is being allowed into the country via ship or air and most expats have been repatriated. We are still receiving some goods via air and the container ships are still being accepted – with stringent requirements for how they are being met and offloaded. There is a handful of cruisers that are still here. A mix of NZ, Canadian and US vessels.

A sailboat arrived here from Mexico a few weeks ago after 5 weeks at sea. They were not allowed ashore and were asked to leave immediately. They were, after much negotiation, allowed to stay for a day to perform essential repairs and had some provisions dropped to their boat. They were then asked to continue their journey to the Philippines.

When we arrived into the Marshall Islands we were granted a three month visitor visa and we had intended to head to Vanuatu round about now as the next stop of our Pacific adventure.
That idea is obviously now no longer viable, with all ports in the Pacific, Micronesia, Philippines and Indonesia closed or restricted , with no indication of when things will ease. As we currently do not have a reasonably close ‘safe’ port to sail to and we do not fancy a direct 3000nm trip to NZ.

So our best option is to remain in the Marshall Islands.

Fortunately there is a 12 month cruising visa that we have been able to apply for. Unfortunately it has cost us $200 USD per person. It also required that we have police checks and a full hospital medical. This was achieved in five separate visits to the hospital and included blood tests, x-rays, poo and wee samples as well as a general checkup. Fortunately, all was well and we are now in possession of a year-long visa.

When we were in the hospital we also updated our records to include the immunisations we already have and we took the opportunity to get a flu vaccination. This is a new requirement for travel to the outer atolls. We can now show this record to the local policeman or mayor as part of our ‘domestic’ check-in.

However, whilst this was all going on, the Internal affairs department announced that they had stopped issuing permits for travel to the outer islands. All cruising yachts in the Majuro lagoon are to to remain here. Bugger. Fortunately , there are two islands within the lagoon that we are allowed to visit and we are still able to swim, dive and snorkel.

As stories roll in from other places around the world of cruisers who are having a very grim time, struggling with the threat of being forced out with no safe haven to sail to, or confined to their boats for weeks on end, then we are very thankful to be ‘stuck’ here.

And now there’s no excuse not to get on with those boat jobs we have been avoiding…..

Rob and Jo
www.sailingdoubletrouble.com

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• Marshall Islands Biosecurity
• More COVID-19 Field Reports
• Pacific Ocean Lockdown: What are the Options?
• COVID-19 Resources Page

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Please share your current experience with COVID-19 restrictions and how it has affected your cruising plans. Contact Sue at [email protected] with your field report.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.