Shipwrecked: How Carnival's high hopes for 2020 gave way to 'floating petri dishes,' stranded crew members, and a spate of COVID-19 deaths at sea

Rhonda Wise/AFP via Getty Images; Michael Tullberg/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Business Insider

• Carnival Corp. started out 2020 with high hopes for smooth sailing, in terms of its finances.  
• But the largest cruise company has found itself facing unprecedented challenges thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Three highly publicized and fatal COVID-19 outbreaks occurred on Carnival vessels: the Diamond Princess, the Grand Princess, and the Zaandam.
• Now employees say morale within the company is sunk as questions linger over why Carnival continued to allow its fleet to sail well into March. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As the MS Zaandam lurked off the coast of Florida, Mateo laid in his cabin and recorded videos for his children. He gave them his best wishes for the birthdays he might miss. He reminded them of his eternal love. A COVID-19 outbreak had swept through the cruise ship he worked on, sickening hundreds of passengers and crew members. Now Mateo felt ill and was left confined to his cabin.

In the decade he'd spent working in the cruise industry, Mateo said he had never felt so close to death. 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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