Ludlow: P&O restart by March 'not impossible'

“We are in regular contact directly with government, and via Clia, and the dialogue remains very positive. I’m pleased with how talks are progressing.”

Discussing P&O’s eventual return to operations, Ludlow said Covid testing “will be key” to a successful resumption.

Although he added that he believed cruising could still operate safely without a vaccine with adapted onboard health and safety protocols in place.

He confirmed – as suggested by Clia’s recent pledge – that all P&O vessels would feature testing capabilities onboard.

“The type [of testing] is yet to be defined as the technology is moving so quickly but we are committed to being able to test all of our guests and crew.”

Upon the line’s restart, Ludlow predicted social distancing could be used “really effectively” with ship capacity capped “at about 85%” but said a lower threshold could be put in place.

“It depends upon which ship and where it’s going. The answer to how long we do that [limit capacity] and what level does somewhat depend on our testing capabilities and the prevalence of a vaccine. I think at this stage there are too many unknowns.”