Photo of Statendam courtesy of Holland America Line.
Holland America Line's Statendam scored a 100 on its most recent U.S. Public Health inspection, making it the third consecutive perfect score for the ship.
The Statendam's surprise inspection was conducted June 5 while the ship was at Juneau, Alaska, during a 14-day round-trip from Seattle. Before that, Statendam received a 100 in February 2015 during a call at Hilo, Hawaii, and in June 2014 in Ketchikan, Alaska.
So far this year, there have been 18 perfect scores.
Others doing so in recent weeks are Royal Caribbean International's Radiance of the Seas on June 7, Regent Seven Seas Cruises' Seven Seas Navigator on May 7, Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Equinox on April 27 and Celebrity Infinity on March 29, and Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Sunshine on April 18 and Carnival Ecstasy on April 13.
"Achieving a perfect score on a USPH inspection is not easy, and we congratulate everyone on the team who worked diligently toward this success," Holland America President Orlando Ashford said. "We always aim for a score of 100, and for Statendam to continue its perfect streak for the third consecutive time is something we celebrate with great pride."
Holland America is on a roll. One of its other ships, Eurodam, earned a 100 for the eighth consecutive time in February, and in the past year Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Ryndam, Zuiderdam and Westerdam also achieved perfect scores.
The VSP inspections were introduced in the early 1970s and are required for all passenger ships that call at a U.S. port. The unannounced inspections are carried out by U.S. Public Health officials twice a year for every cruise ship.
The score, on a scale from one to 100, is assigned on the basis of a checklist involving dozens of areas of assessment, encompassing hygiene and sanitation of food (from storage to preparation), overall galley cleanliness, water, shipboard personnel and the ship as a whole.
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