We have just learned that the Seychelles Ministry of Health and the Seychelles Port Authority has denied the MV World Odyssey entry to the Seychelles. Despite multiple appeals and no evidence of health concerns on the ship, the decision was upheld.
Here is the message from the Public Health Commissioner
“As indicated before, the decision was NOT just a health decision but a combined one based on a multitude of factors. We have reviewed the documents and the decision still stands.”
In an effort to maximize our time in port and, with good authority that we now also may be denied entry to Mauritius, we have therefore decided to immediately reroute the ship to instead sail to Maputo, Mozambique, a beautiful and culturally rich country in East Africa. Find additional health and safety information about Mozambique here on the U.S. State Department website.
See below the modified itinerary and the link to the updated academic calendar:
- February 29: Port Louis, Mauritius (technical stop for bunkering only)
- March 5-10: Maputo, Mozambique
- March 14-23: Cape Town, South Africa.
All Semester at Sea-sponsored field programs planned in the Seychelles and Mauritius have been canceled and credited to participants’ shipboard accounts. Our field office team and faculty will be working diligently to make alternate plans and assignments for the field classes that were planned in the Seychelles and Mauritius. They will be communicating those updated field class days/times directly with those students affected. We are looking at opportunities for field programs in Mozambique.
For more information about the Spring 2020 program, please visit the voyage page.
