On a recent routine United States Public Health inspection conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Holland America Line’s ms Statendam achieved a perfect score of 100, marking the ship’s third consecutive perfect score.
The unannounced inspection was conducted June 5, 2015, while the ship was at Juneau, Alaska, during a 14-day cruise roundtrip from Seattle, Washington. Prior to that inspection, Statendam received a score of 100 in February 2015 during a call at Hilo, Hawaii, as well as a perfect score in June 2014 during a call at Ketchikan, Alaska.
“Achieving a perfect score on a U.S.P.H inspection is not easy, and we congratulate everyone on the team who worked diligently toward this success,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line. “We always aim for a score of 100, and for Statendam to continue its perfect streak for the third consecutive time is something we celebrate with great pride.”
Recently, ms Eurodam achieved its eighth consecutive score of 100, and in the past year ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Noordam, ms Ryndam, ms Zuiderdam and ms Westerdam also earned perfect scores of 100.
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 Holland America Line ships received perfect scores in all of those areas.
SOURCE Holland America Line