April 28, 2021: -Royal Caribbean Cruises temporarily suspends all assignments for its staff from India and will pause to hire in the country, while the increase in Covid-19 cases there, according to a report by Crew Center.

India reported a number of coronavirus cases for the fifth consecutive day on Monday, with over 350,000 new infections over 24 hours and 17 million total conditions.

“It’s always unfortunate when we must cancel assignments, but we believe this is a prudent decision at this time,” the news outlet quoted Royal Caribbean International said, writing a letter to the crew.

 “It’s not the way that we want to operate, but it is the reality of the quick changes we need to make based on different reasons that are often unplanned and beyond our direct control,” it added.

According to Crew Center’s report, nearly 300 Indian crew members were supposed to work on the company’s Anthem of the Seas ship, beginning on May 3.

A person knowing the matter told the news outlet that accommodations would be provided to the crew under quarantine guidelines. Few of the workers were already in St. Maarten, the report said.

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson told CNBC in an email that “We continue to monitor impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, that include travel restrictions to and from areas with a high number of cases. To ensure the continued health and safety of the crew, guests, and the residents of the destination we visit, we are exercising extra caution presently in the movement of any crew from India to our ships because of the recent surge of COVID-19.”