A photo of an apparently crowded cruise ship in Boston Harbor on Saturday night raised questions on social media as Massachusetts officials continue to push social distancing practices to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The image showed Provincetown II, a three-story ship run by the Bay State Cruise Company, which was preparing to depart on a port cruise from 7 to 9:30 p.m., according to the company.
“I am concerned that so many people are closing, that we end up like some of the southern states,” said Michael Williams, a Rhode Island native.
But Michael Glasfield, manager of the Bay State Cruise Company, said in an email that the cruise ship sailed at just 33 percent capacity, falling within the company’s 44 percent capacity COVID-19 operating limits.
Glasfield said that level of capacity in the deck areas would provide 28 square feet per passenger, meaning that each person could be separated six feet apart if social distancing practices are respected and all passenger spaces are used in the ship.
Most of the passengers in the image appeared to be gathered on the upper deck outdoors.
The partially closed center deck can exchange its air volume in less than a minute when the ship is moving at nine knots, according to Glasfeld, while the bottom deck is the most completely closed.
Iliana Valles, a passenger on a different Bay State boat on Sunday afternoon, said the photo taken on Saturday does not reflect her experience.
“They were all wearing masks, the only people who weren’t were having a snack or a drink,” Valles said. “There was hand sanitizer everywhere, I felt safe.”
He added that the cruise line left seats open between passengers and facial covers were required.
Bay State Cruise has established a number of other measures in its control plan, including barriers on boarding lines, screens at service counters, reduced navigation times, and nightly disinfection with antimicrobial spray machines. Hand sanitizer dispensers should be placed on doors, common touch areas are sanitized every 20 minutes, and face masks provided to employees for use near passengers or other crew members.
The plan also emphasizes that employees should not report to work if they exhibit symptoms similar to COVID-19, and will provide two weeks of paid leave for employees to stay home if they contract COVID-19.
Massachusetts remains in Phase 3 for its reopening plan, during which employees and customers must remain at least six feet away whenever possible, both on and off the job sites.
The state’s current guidelines for outdoor meetings, not closed, have no specific limit on the number of guests.
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