MS Zaandam

MS ''Zaandam'' is a cruise ship owned and operated by Holland America Line, named for the city of Zaandam, Netherlands near Amsterdam. She was built by Fincantieri in Marghera, Italy and delivered in 2000. ''Zaandam'' is part of the ''Rotterdam'' class and a sister ship to , , and .

The ship was denied access to the Panama Canal and then to Fort Lauderdale after an outbreak of COVID-19 early in the 2020 pandemic. Four passengers and crew died of COVID-19 during or after that voyage.

Design and description

The ship has a gross tonnage (GT) of 61,396, a net tonnage (NT) of 31,224 and measures . The ship is long with a beam of and a draught of . As built the vessel had a GT of 60,906 and DWT 6,150. As built ''Zaandam'' was long overall and between perpendiculars with a beam of . The vessel is powered by a diesel-electric system turning two propeller shafts creating . This gives ''Zaandam'' a maximum speed of .

The vessel can accommodate 1,432 passengers and 607 crew. The 716 cabins range in size from in size from , of which 197 have a balcony. ''Zaandam'' has a musical theme, and is decorated with artefacts and memorabilia from different musical genres, such as a Baroque-style Dutch pipe organ and guitars signed by the Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana and Queen. One of the centre stairways has a saxophone signed by former United States President Bill Clinton on the mouthpiece. A total of 10 decks are accessible to passengers (with the top-most split in the middle to accommodate the Lido deck pool skylight and the "A" deck having only the port/starboard tender ship docks accessible), 5 of which contain cabins. The ''Lower Promenade Deck'' (Deck 3) has an exterior walkway along the ship's circumference, excluding the bow section.

Construction and career

The cruise ship was constructed by Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiana SpA at Marghera, Italy with the yard number 6036 and the keel was laid down on 26 June 1998. The vessel was launched on 29 April 1999 and completed on 6 April 2000. ''Zaandam'' was christened by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in May 2000. The ship is registered in the Netherlands and owned and operated by the Holland America Line.

''Zaandam'' currently sails through Canada and New England during the summer and during the winter sails Mexico and Hawaii. In December and January, ''Zaandam'' cruises the Antarctic and South America.

On 24 June 2018, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 73 people became ill on ''Zaandam'' in a norovirus outbreak en voyage from Seattle, Washington to Alaska.

Coronavirus pandemic

On 7 March 2020 ''Zaandam'' departed Buenos Aires, Argentina, sailing for San Antonio, Chile with 1,243 passengers and 586 crew. By 14 March, 13 passengers and over 100 crew members had fallen ill with "flu-like symptoms.". She became stranded off the coast of Chile after being denied entry. By 24 March, the vessel was sailing for Port Everglades, a cruise-liner port in Florida, United States. The number of sick people aboard had risen to 77. Holland America dispatched sister ship to aid the ship by bringing supplies, additional medical staff, and COVID-19 tests, and also with the intention of transferring healthy passengers onto ''Rotterdam''.

On 27 March, ''Zaandam'' was denied transit through the Panama Canal due to the number of sick people on board. Four passengers died while waiting for permission to transit the Panama Canal with the number of sick aboard climbing to 148. On 28 March 2020, ''Zaandam'' and ''Rotterdam'' were cleared by the Panama Department of Health to transit the Panama Canal. Some passengers from ''Zaandam'' transferred to the ''Rotterdam''. ''Rotterdam'' followed ''Zaandam'' through the Panama Canal on her way to Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At that time, the crew of ''Zaandam'' included four physicians and four nurses while ''Rotterdam''s roster included two physicians and four nurses.

By 31 March 2020, the number reported as being "ill" had increased to 193. ''Rotterdam'' had taken almost 1,400 symptom-free people from ''Zaandam'', leaving 450 passengers and 602 crew members on her sister ship.

By 30 March 2020, Holland America did not receive permission to dock either vessel at Fort Lauderdale as planned. The city's mayor, Dean Trantalis, "said he didn't want the ship to dock near his city, at least without extensive precautions." The Florida state governor, Ron DeSantis, was also hesitant to accept ''Zaandam'' at Fort Lauderdale, and declined to make a decision on 31 March 2020. The president of Holland America made a public plea for acceptance of the ship and expressed concern that various ports in several countries had been reluctant to provide provisions and medical supplies.

In a 30 March press conference, the state governor suggested that the best solution might be to send medical assistance to the ship. On 1 April, the governor announced that only residents of Florida could disembark when the ship arrived. 190 passengers and crew reported "flu-like" symptoms and eight had tested positive for COVID-19.

US President Donald Trump said on 1 April 2020 that "we have to help the people" n the shipsand that discussions were under way with Canada and the United Kingdom about them "arranging flights to retrieve their citizens from the ship." After the ship was allowed to dock, nine passengers were taken to local hospitals, but 45 others who were ill were required to remain on board, receiving medical care, until they fully met "the CDC guidelines for being fit to travel." Crew from both ship were not permitted to disembark. The cruise line sought to arrange for passengers from other countries to leave Florida on chartered aircraft.

By 4 April, "14 critically ill people" were admitted to local hospitals, while the others were allowed to disembark when flights to their destinations were available. A fourth person, one of the crew, died in hospital on 10 April. As a result of the pandemic, ''Zaandam'' was taken out of active service.

In August 2021, Holland America Line announced ''Zaandam'' would return to cruising the Canada/New England region in May 2022.

A book about ''Zandaam'' was published in June 2022 titled ''Cabin Fever: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic'', by Michael Smith and Jonathan Franklin.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaandam
1999 ships
Maritime incidents in 2009
Ships of the Holland America Line
Ships built in Venice
Ships built by Fincantieri
Cruise ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic