Japan to reopen ports to cruise ships

Japan will reopen its ports to foreign cruise ships, the transport ministry said Tuesday, announcing the end of a ban that has been in place since March 2020.

Report informs via foreign media that the ministry made the decision after the Japan International Cruise Committee, a group of foreign-registered vessels, drew up guidelines on the procedures to be taken if any passenger or crew member tests positive for COVID-19.

International cruise ships will be able to stop at Japanese ports if the operating companies have agreements with the port the ships plan to call at.

Such ships are likely to start visiting Japan again as early as next March.

Japan stopped accepting foreign cruise ships at its ports in response to a mass COVID-19 infection on the Diamond Princess foreign cruise ship, during its stay at the Port of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, from February 2020.