Cruise lines accused of bowing to Argentine blackmail over Falklands

Cruise lines which have abandoned visits to the Falkland Islands because of pressure from Argentina are being accused of cowardice.
Holland America, Regent Seven Seas, Oceania, Aida and Silversea have all cancelled forthcoming calls at Port Stanley after being told their ships’ “safety” could not be guaranteed on arrival in Buenos Aires and Ushuaia.
Explaining his company’s decision, Silversea’s UK general manager, Mike Bonner, said: “Due to ongoing political uncertainty” the line has “taken the decision to cancel scheduled calls at Port Stanley for voyages departing in the coming weeks.
“These voyages will now include alternate ports of call and, where possible, guests will be notified prior to embarkation. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by these schedule changes. The safety of our crew and passengers remains our foremost concern.”
Simon Veness, editor of World of Cruising magazine, has attacked the cruise lines’ “twisted logic” and says: “Why in the name of all that’s sane would you go to the “unsafe” ports and cut out the ones that still welcome cruise ships and go out of their way to accommodate them? Isn’t that just giving in to a bully?”
He says ships should follow the example set by P&O – whose liner Canberra was famously part of the Falklands Task Force during the conflict in 1982 – and continue visiting Port Stanley while calling at Punta Arenas in Chile and Montevideo in Uruguay instead of Argentine ports.
Veness adds: “The cruise lines may think they need Argentina, but that is definitely not the case.”
Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire urged cruise lines to follow P&O’s example, saying: “We hope that others in the industry will refuse to bow to blackmail, which is designed only to damage the economic well-being of the Falkland Islands’ people.”