Carnival Cruise Line offloads hurricane supplies

Carnival Horizon, which is operated by Carnival Cruise Line, on Tuesday delivered thousands of relief supplies to support recovery efforts in Jamaica following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

The shipment - which included bottled water, baby food, diapers, canned goods, cereal, and hygiene supplies - was handed over to the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management and offloaded with assistance from the Jamaica Tourism Cares Taskforce.

Jamaican crew members aboard the Carnival Horizon were also instrumental in helping to deliver the items.

In addition to Tuesday's supply delivery, Carnival has partnered with the Miami HEAT and the Micky & Madeleine Arison Family Foundation to donate US$1 million to Direct Relief in support of wider recovery efforts.

"Jamaica has long been a beloved destination for Carnival guests thanks in large part to the warmth of its people. We know the strength and resilience of Jamaicans will help get them through this difficult time and we look forward to making our first official visit with guests as soon as government officials say they're ready," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

"We also proudly have many Jamaican crew members across our fleet and we have been providing support to them as well."

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, expressed appreciation for the donation, noting its importance to the recovery effort.

"We are deeply grateful to Carnival Cruise Line and our wider tourism partners for this generous donation of relief supplies to Jamaica," Bartlett said.

"In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, our Jamaica Tourism Cares relief coordination taskforce has been engaging stakeholders across our key source markets to mobilise exactly this kind of support. These contributions bring immediate help to families and persons in need, including tourism workers, and signal to the world that our tourism family is standing with Jamaica. They also strengthen our ability to restore lives and livelihoods and help to enable Jamaica to recover and emerge stronger and even more resilient," Bartlett added.