“Ships Become Dangerous Places During a Pandemic” is a new paper authored by Wade Turvold and Jim McMullin for Security Nexus. In this paper, they illustrate the difficulties of life aboard ocean-going vessels and cite historic cases of how onboard ventilation systems and close-quarters living conditions have contributed to the spread of contagious diseases, including COVID-19.

Excerpt:
“Due to their unique features, ships become particularly dangerous places during times of pandemic. The outbreaks in the USS Leviathan and the MV Diamond Princess both point to the same lesson. Ships with their characteristically crowded conditions, small spaces, and poor ventilation increase the transmission rate of breath-borne respiratory illnesses. “

Read the full article

Wade Turvold and Jim McMullin are professors at the Daniel K Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. The views expressed in this article are their own.

Security Nexus is a peer-reviewed, online journal published by the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

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