[Copesan University] Setting Sail

With many restaurants, bars and lounges located in a contained area of less than 1,000 feet in length, pest management is absolutely critical for the health of cruise ship passengers and crew. There have been many changes and improvements in pest management on cruise ships in the last 25 years. For example, our company (Santiano Brothers) has developed and implemented Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs on cruise ships with good results. In 2000, logs of our company’s IPM activities became a requirement.

VESSEL SANITATION PROGRAM. IPM on cruise ships is a bit different than IPM in a traditional full-service hotel. At all U.S. ports, cruise ships must have a United States Public Health (USPH) inspection as part of the CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP). The inspection verifies the presence of a pest management plan, including pest monitoring and surveillance, pest management training, pest logs, pesticide documentation and other program components. The inspection also reviews food inspection results, including pest inspections of the ship’s food areas and incoming food shipments.

MANDATORY PRE-BOARD FOOD INSPECTION. Each week, a typical cruise ship loads up enough food to feed 2,000 to 3,000 passengers plus crew for seven to 10 days. Before a shipment of food is brought onto the ship, the USPH Vessel Sanitation Program requires that it is inspected for insects, rodents and other pests, both on the pier and onboard before it is placed into storage.

ROUND-THE-CLOCK MONITORING. Cockroach monitoring stations are located throughout the ship, especially in food areas. These stations are labeled on a ship map and inspected at least once a week, sometimes during the middle of the night. Findings are then documented in the IPM log. Many cruise ships visit ports and regions where fly populations are large, which makes flies another potential health problem. Therefore, insect light traps (ILTs) are placed in most areas. The ILTs are monitored at least as frequently as the cockroach monitors.

CREW TRAINING AND INVOLVEMENT ESSENTIAL. Since pest management specialists are not on board the ship at all times, we train the ship’s personnel to identify different pests. We also provide them with pictures of the most important pests to help in the identification process. All of their findings are recorded in the log. For example, a growing pest problem on cruise ships in recent years is bed bugs. We now train housekeeping personnel on how to inspect cabins for bed bugs and evidence of bed bugs. We also teach them how to treat an infested passenger or crew cabin. The training includes how to document their findings and actions in a log. Since the personnel on cruise ships typically changes every six to eight months, we hold our pest management training classes for the crew every six months. Training sometimes can be a challenge with crew members from so many different parts of the world, but it is essential to successful pest management.

IPM SUCCESS. While the unique nature of cruise ships poses various pest management concerns, we have been able to pass all the USPH inspections and tests, using the IPM principles of:

• Administrative support
• Frequent inspection and monitoring
• Pest identification
• Effective training
• Tailored pest solutions
• Thorough documentation
• Periodic program review

The author is vice president, Santiano Brothers, Miami, Fla.