We in The Bahamas have had a long standing and ongoing relationship with the US Coast Guard based on mutual interest and respect.  The Bahamas is one of the first countries to have cooperated closely with the Coast Guard in combating human trafficking, narcotic trafficking and other illicit activities.  We share with the Coast Guard an interest in high standards of vessel quality and responsible maritime oversight.  Our experience with the Coast Guard has been one of cooperation with consummate professionals.

Each of us is now confronting a unique challenge, that of dealing responsibly with a global pandemic - first and foremost protecting our populations - while doing our best to support those individuals, passengers and crew, sheltering-in-place on board ships.  We continue to work closely with the cruise industry.  Our Flag represents the largest number of cruise ships of any registry in the world; our Maritime Authority works with our cruise ship owners in relation to the safe operation of these ships, and the health and well-being of their passengers and seafarers; and our nation has been responsive in enabling safe and responsible solutions - within parameters - for cruise ships in the course of this pandemic.

The cruise industry is facing an unprecedented crisis, and we in The Bahamas, facing the same global crisis, are doing what we can to provide support.  We have made inter-governmental contact where we could be helpful.  We have devised safe methods of resupply for our Flag cruise vessels that were running critically low on provisions, medical supplies and medical personnel.  We have provided places of shelter, under carefully controlled conditions, for a number of vessels seeking to shelter in our waters.   We have also given access to these sheltering vessels irrespective of country of registry; in the process accommodating ships of a number of flags in addition to our own.

Even though we have provided the foregoing assistance while in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic, we are cognizant of the fact that we still have to cope with the devastating effect and extreme adversity which was brought to appear on our island economy by Hurricane Dorian just six short months ago.

 We are indeed grateful for the tremendous generosity and kind assistance rendered by the United States during that catastrophic and challenging period. However,  we recognize that as a result of Hurricane Dorian, The Bahamas is still functioning with  limited capacity and capabilities; socially, economically and financially.

What we have not been able to do is to take people from ships ashore in our population centers.  We are a small island developing state with a national population in the three hundred thousand.  We are proud of the medical care that we afford our people, but it is scaled to our population size.  Our system is not designed to deal with a massive influx of new COVID-19 patients from outside our country.