On recent routine United States Public Health inspections (USPHI) conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Holland America Line’s ms Statendam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam and ms Ryndam achieved perfect scores of 100.
For Statendam, the unannounced inspection was Feb. 19, 2015, at Hilo, Hawaii, during a 30-day Tahiti and Marquesas cruise roundtrip from San Diego. CDC officials surprised Nieuw Amsterdam, on March 1, 2015, at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while preparing for its seven-day Caribbean cruise. Ryndam completed its inspection March 8 in Tampa, Florida, while also getting ready for a seven-day Caribbean cruise.
Prior to these inspections, Statendam received a score of 100 in June 2014 during a call at Ketchikan, Alaska. Recently, ms Eurodam achieved its eighth consecutive score of 100, and in the past year ms Noordam, ms Zuiderdam and ms Westerdam also earned perfect scores of 100.
“Our ships always strive for perfect scores during U.S.P.H inspections, and it’s very gratifying for everyone on board and ashore when we meet our goals,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line. “Congratulations to the teams on these ships for showing how a score of 100 can be achieved through hard work and dedication.”
CDC inspections are part of the Vessel Sanitation Program, which was introduced in the early 1970s and is required for all passenger ships that call at a U.S. port. The inspections are unannounced and are carried out by officials from the United States Public Health Service twice a year for every cruise ship. The score, on a scale from one to 100, is assigned on the basis of a checklist involving dozens of areas of assessment, encompassing hygiene and sanitation of food (from storage to preparation), overall galley cleanliness, water, shipboard personnel and the ship as a whole. The ships received perfect scores in all of those areas.
