Category Archives: Caribbean

November 12, 2019, Santiago de Chile - The prevalence of adult obesity in Latin America and the Caribbean has tripled since 1975, affecting one in four adults in a region where hunger has grown once again, reaching 42.5 million people, according to a new United Nations report issued today, the Panorama of Food and Nutritional Security 2019.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO / WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP), called for countries in the region to develop urgent actions to address the increase in malnutrition.

The document highlights the need to promote healthier food environments through taxes and incentives that favor healthy food, social protection systems, school feeding programs and the regulation of food advertising and marketing. The agencies also stress the importance of improving food labeling with frontal nutritional warning systems, ensuring the safety and quality of food sold on the street, and reformulating the composition of certain products to ensure their nutritional contribution.

According to the Panorama report, the most significant increase in adult obesity in the region was observed in the Caribbean, where the percentage quadrupled, rising from 6 percent in 1975 to 25 percent, an increase in absolute terms from 760,000 to 6.6 million people.

The explosive increase in obesity which affects 24 percent of the regional population, about 105 million people, almost double the global level of 13.2 percent not only has huge economic costs, but also threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands, explained the FAOs Regional Representative, Julio Berdegu.

According to the Panorama, every year 600,000 people die in Latin America and the Caribbean due to diseases related to poor diets, such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Inadequate diets are associated with more deaths than any other risk factor, something that threatens our future generations, since the rates of both childhood and adolescent obesity have tripled between 1990 and 2016.

We must act now to reverse this trend and prevent children from suffering the consequences of poor diets on their health and their future quality of life, said PAHO/WHO Director Carissa F. Etienne. To achieve this, we need the commitment of the whole society and public policies that regulate unhealthy food products, create environments conducive to physical activity and promote healthy eating at school and at the family table, he added.

The publication highlights that the region is worse than the rest of the world in the majority of malnutrition indicators related to excessive calorie intake: overweight has doubled since the 1970s, and today affects 59.5 percent of adults in the region, 262 million people, while globally the rate is 20 percentage points lower: 39.1 percent

In contrast, the region has lower undernourishment rates than the world (6.5 percent for the region versus 10.8 worldwide), stunting (9 percent versus 21.9), and much lower rates of wasting (1.3 percent, versus 7.3for the world). However, the agencies warn of the worrying increase in hunger, which has grown again by 4.5 million people since 2014 an increase of 11 percent reaching 42.5 million in 2018, its highest point of the last decade.

Changes in the food environment

The Panorama makes a detailed analysis of how the food environment of the region has changed, understood as the space of interaction between people and the physical, economic, political and socio-cultural conditions that influence the way they acquire, prepare and consume food.

Sales of ultra-processed food products are the fastest growing in Latin America and they increase the population's exposure to excessive amounts of sugar, sodium and fat. Between 2000 and 2013, the consumption of ultra-processed products grew by more than 25 percent, and fast food consumption grew almost 40 percent.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, too many children eat too little healthy food and too much processed food, said Bernt Aasen, UNICEF Regional Director (a.i.) for Latin America and the Caribbean. Almost 1 in 5 children under 5 are malnourished or overweight, which prevents them from growing well. It is everyone's task to ensure healthy food is available and affordable for all families, especially the most vulnerable.

The expansion of supermarket chains and the preponderance of large food processing industries is another major change in the regional food environment, one which has made ultra-processed products available everywhere, and at lower prices than nutritious food. Poor people have been hardest hit by these changes, since for this population group it is often easier and cheaper to access unhealthy rather than healthy food.

Regional responses to promote healthier food environments

The region has reacted to the rise in malnutrition through a series of public policies. Countries such as Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay have implemented food labeling laws, which allow consumers to make better decisions.

Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Panama and Uruguay have improved regulation on food advertising, and at least 13 countries in the region have adopted fiscal and social measures that seek to favor adequate food. The Panorama report stresses that social protection and school feeding programs, public food supply and marketing systems and policies that promote food safety and quality are essential to improve nutrition.

"If we expand social protection programs in our region, we would better face the double burden that hunger and obesity represent for communities and families," said WFP Regional Director Miguel Barreto. "These are the two faces of malnutrition." Social protection programs today cover more than 200 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean, including 85 million schoolchildren who receive breakfast, snacks or lunch.

Contact

FAOBenjamn Labatut+56 229 232 174benjamin.labatut@fao.org

PAHO / WHOSebastin OlielT. +1 202 974 3459M. +1 (202) 316 5679oliels@paho.org

UNICEFMara Alejandra BerroternT. +507 62972099M. +507 3017482maberroteran@unicef.org

WFPElio RujanoT. +507 317 3900M. +507 6677 0608elio.rujano@wfp.org

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Panorama of Food and Nutritional Security in Latin America and the Caribbean - World - ReliefWeb

Carnival Cruise Line is adding new 7-day Caribbean itineraries to Carnival Fascination based out of San Juan, Purto Rico.

Carnival Fascination will be offering even more choice in the Caribbean with three new 7-day itineraries out of San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2021. The new itineraries will provide guests the chance to visit five stunning southern Caribbean destinations.

There will be a series of 13 departures from the port running from May through December 2021. The ship will make new calls at Antigua, Dominica, Grenada and Tortola alongside the popular ports of St. Thomas, Barbados, and St. Maarten.

Related: 40 Things to Do in San Juan, Puerto Rico for Cruisers

The Fantasy-class vessel will still continue to sail her popular 7-day itinerary which includes calls at St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Barbados. Guests do have the option to embark from Barbados as well as San Juan.

The Carnival cruise ship underwent a huge multi-million dry dock in 2017 so she is well prepared to offer a fun-filled family vacation. The ship has all the latest FUN 2.0 upgrades including the much-loved Guys Burger Joint, Alchemy Bar and BlueIguana Cantina Mexican eatery. There is even an adults-only retreat, a new Bonsai Sushi Express, and an impressive WaterWorks aquapark.

Also Read: 10 Reasons You Need to Take a Carnival Paradise Cruise

The ship is over 70,500 gross tons with a passenger capacity of over 2,000 at double occupancy.

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Carnival Fascination to Sail New Caribbean Itineraries - Cruise Hive

KEY FIGURES

1.2M AFFECTED BY SEASONAL RAINS SINCE MAY 2019

4.9K EVACUATIONS DUE TO EFFECTS OF SEASONAL RAINS

55 TONS OF HUMANITARIAN AID DELIVERED BY GOVERNMENT TO RESPOND TO RAINY SEASON

GUATEMALA: NATURAL HAZARDS

RAINY SEASON

According to the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), seasonal rains in Guatemala have affected some 1,285,000 people since the onset of the season in May 2019. The rains, which triggered floods and landslides throughout Guatemala, have rendered 4,330 people homeless, prompted 4,961 evacuations and driven 1,470 people to shelter throughout the season, as well as causing 12 deaths.

Infrastructure evaluations show 1,500 homes with mild damage, 2,500 homes with moderate damage and 263 homes with severe damage, as well as landslide damage to 149 roads and various damages to 12 schools. The Government has thus far delivered some 55 tons of humanitarian aid worth GTQ600,000 (US$78,000) to benefit nearly 5,000 people.

LANDSLIDE

On 4 November, President Jimmy Morales declared a public calamity for 30 days for the central Guatemalan municipality of Villa Nueva following a massive landslide that put 125 families at risk - Morales noted there are more than 100 homes at risk of collapsing due to the landslide.The decree will allow the Government to respond to damages, placing civil and military authorities under the coordination of CONRED.

COLD FRONTS

With the rainy season coming to a close, authorities are shifting their attention to seasonal cold fronts, with two to three fronts forecast for Guatemala starting on 15 November. Longer term forecasts from the National Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology Institute (INSIVUMEH) include an additional 14 cold fronts between December 2019 and March 2020, where temperatures in the west may fall as low as -7 C, while temperatures in the highlands may fall as low as -3 C.

INSIVUMEH expects the cold fronts to feature rain in departments without a defined dry season. Children under 5 and elderly people are particularly vulnerable during cold fronts, as they are likelier to fall ill. Departmental and municipal authorities are preparing shelters ahead of the incoming fronts.

KEY FIGURES

94K TOTAL CASES OF DENGUE IN HONDURAS THROUGH EPIDEMIOLOGICAL WEEK 43

HONDURAS: DENGUE UPDATE

Through Epidemiological Week (EW) 43 (20-26 October), there are 94,069 cases of dengue in Honduras, with 18,296 cases of severe dengue (19.45 per cent). The rising caseload is a 1,480 per cent increase from the 5,953 total cases registered by EW 43 in 2018.

Week-to-week dengue totals are declining again after a minor spike in EW 41 (6-12 October). Ministry of Health officials confirmed four more deaths, bringing the 2019 death toll up to 155. More than half of the deceased are under 15 years old. Comayagua, Corts and Santa Brbara remain the most affected departments.

The Vice-minister of Health reports that the Government has invested some US$10 million towards prevention and response measures.

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Latin America & the Caribbean: Weekly Situation Update (4-11 November 2019) As of 11 November 2019 - World - ReliefWeb

Navy Beach St Maarten

Navy Beach in Montauk is a summertime hot spot, famous for being one of the best places to catch the sunset with a cocktail in hand. While dusk is probably the most popular time at this nautical-themed restaurant and bar, its also a great place to drop anchor, have lunch on the beach with your toes in the sand, or enjoy a dinner with friends. Now Navy Beach is bringing its all-day appeal to the Caribbean, opening a location in St. Thomas in December and in St. Maarten in early 2020.

They bring an ideal missing piece to the marinas as a playful, chic addition to the dining scenes, says FranklinFerguson, partner at Navy Beach Hospitality of the new locations. Perfect for the luxury yachting community that often heads south (from the Hamptons) in the winter months. The expansion is a partnership between Navy Beach and IGY Marinas, one of the largest international marina companies in the world and a leading destination network for vessels across the globe.

Navy Beach

Like at the original Navy Beach, the ocean will play a pivotal role in the St. Thomas and St. Maarten outposts.NavyBeachSt. Thomashas a prime waterfront location at Yacht Haven Grande and will have a mix of indoor and outdoor seating, and views of Charlotte Amalie Harbor. The bright open-air space also makes a great backdrop for weddings, live music performancesand events.

Navy Beach St. Maarten will serve as the brands new flagship and opens at Yacht Club at Isle de Sol which is home to 40 megayacht berths. The lagoon-front, two-story space will feature water-view dining, a gaming area, daybeds overlooking a swimming pool and a tropical landscaped patio. For cocktails head to their Sky Deck which overlooks the marina for a tropical outdoor tipple and of course, to see an epic sunset.

As for food, you can expect some Montauk favorites as well as some local updates at both Caribbean Navy Beach locations.The menu includes the Raw Tuna Crudo (with avocado, jalapeo, lemon and sesame); Jumbo Lump Crab Cake (with cucumber kimchi and smoked yogurt); Grilled Avocado (with chilled shrimp, tomatillo, Calabrian chile oil and tortilla crisps); Whole Snapper (with red curry coconut, sushi rice and wakame); and a Caribbean Lobster Bake. Like our Montauk menu, it will offer something for everyone, from fresh raw seafood, to comfort food, says Ferguson.

New to the Caribbean scene, both Navy Beaches will be hosting preview events to see old friends and make new ones.Well be welcoming Yacht Club marina guests, as well as locals from St. Maarten and St. Thomas, friends of Navy Beach and IGY Marinas in town for a friends and family preview soire, saysFerguson. There will be signature cocktails and menu items as well as live music. Itll be a casually elegant gathering of existing and new friends.

While Navy Beach in Montauk is typically a summertime destination these new Caribbean outposts make the Navy Beach experience accessible year-round. Even in the depths of winter, youll be able to enjoy fresh seafood, sand beaches and a lively atmosphere reminiscent of summer in the Hamptons just a short flight away from the east coast. The properties will also attract a whole new set of guests making the brand a worldwide name rather than just a Montauk favorite.

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Montauk Meets The Caribbean: Navy Beach Opens In St.Thomas And St. Maarten - Forbes

Adult populations in the Caribbean, mirroring black populations in the U.S., experience higher rates of hypertension, stroke, and heart disease, and researchers want to know why.

Among them is Yale School of Medicine researcher and physician Dr. Erica Spatz , whose recent paper in the journal Ethnicity & Disease details a study that aims to determine which factors are contributing to high numbers of poor cardiovascular outcomes in the Caribbean. The research is part of the larger Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) Study, launched in 2011, which is led by Yale School of Medicine professor Dr. Marcella Nunez Smith. Investigators hope the study will eventually involve 500 participants from four island nations: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados.

ECHORN is looking at the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, along with the risk factors associated with these conditions in the Eastern Caribbean population, Spatz says. They range from biological factors which include clinical conditions, biomarkers and genetics to social and environmental and community factors.

Compared with white adults in the U.S., those from the Caribbean region and African-American adults in the United States have hypertension that occurs earlier and with more serious consequences, including organ damage to the heart, eyes, and kidneys, as well as heart attacks, strokes, cognitive limitations, and late-stage kidney disease.

Spatz is in the second year of her five-year study, and has enrolled over 100 participants to date. She says they are exploring a few key hypotheses. One is that the blood pressure measurement happening in the clinics is lower than at other times in a patients daily life; another is that in the Caribbean population, people are experiencing high rates of stress that are contributing to elevated blood pressure and poor cardiovascular outcomes.

To get a better picture of patients actual blood pressure, participants in Spatzs study wear a 24-hour monitoring device around their arm that inflates every half hour during the day and every hour at night.

Blood pressure measured in a doctors office can be higher than when taken at home, a phenomenon known as white coat hypertension. But Spatz says the opposite can also be true. Sometimes blood pressure is normal in the clinic but elevated in patients daily lives, which is known as masked hypertension. She added that these patients may also experience higher blood pressures while sleeping, when these numbers should typically dip.

In order to assess the second hypothesis, related to the role of stress, researchers have participants fill out an extensive survey. We ask them questions about financial stress, everyday discrimination, neighborhood stress, and depression and anxiety, Spatz says. Participants are also asked to note their activity level and any stressors at the moment when the blood pressure monitor inflates. This is called an ecological momentary assessment.

Yale researchers have a strong partnership with clinical research sites in the Caribbean where the study is taking place as part of ECHORN. Its a very collaborative group, Spatz says. Together, we have refined the study to capture important gaps in knowledge about hypertension, and the information we gather can be used to directly improve outcomes in the populations from whom the data are collected.

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Study explores why Caribbean adults have higher hypertension rates - Yale News

In the span of just a few years, the focus at the annual Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation conference has shifted from issues around producing electricity from thermal capacity usually oil to what blend of renewable options constitutes the best path forward.

It is not just a theoretical question for the future, says Risto Paldanius, director of business development for Wrtsils Energy Storage and Optimization business unit, a longtime attendee of the conference.

It has clearly shifted, and now that the [levelized cost of energy, or LCOE] for renewables is on par or lower than any thermal generation, its all about solar and wind, said Paldanius. Then the questions become how to achieve the 100 percent renewable future everyone is talking about without causing disturbances in the grid and effectively managing solar ramp rates and generation optimization.

They are not questions rooted only in environmental sustainability; they also address life-saving resiliency, as seen with storms that have battered communities and their power grids on many islands with devastating outcomes in the past two years, including in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Anguilla.

Paldanius doesnt have to speak in the abstract about how to achieve high levels of renewable penetration on island grids. He can point to the experience of the Caribbean island of Bonaire, which has deployed a mixture of battery energy storage, wind and thermal engines controlled by Greensmiths Energy Management System (GEMS).

Earlier this year, Greensmith Energy, a Wrtsil company, worked with Contour Global the islands sole power producer to reimagine the islands grid to incorporate more renewable generation.

In the Caribbean, especially on the small islands, the effects of climate change are [obvious to] everybody, said Giorgio Narminio, Caribbean assets chief operating officer for Contour Global, during a recentGTM webinar, A 100% Renewable Energy Future Is Possible WithIntelligent EMS Technology.

The desire to transition to more renewables also had to be balanced with grid stability. The challenge is to combine sustainability, reliability and affordability at same time, said Narminio.

The island had previously relied on generation from 14 megawatts of heavy fuel engines, 3 megawatts of diesel backup engines, a small lead-acid battery system, and 11 megawatts of wind generation to meet the annual demand of 110,000 megawatt-hours. In March, Wrtsil deployed a 6-megawatt/6-megawatt-hour lithium-ion battery storage system along with GEMS to control all of the Contour Globals generation assets.

One of Contour Globals main objectives was to reduce wind curtailment and optimize spinning reserves provided by the engines and frequency and voltage regulation to balance the intermittent renewable power.

Contour Global was able to sharpen its forecasting and dispatch optimization capabilities with the new software, which leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence.

In Bonaire, we can forecast load based on historic data. We look at it along with real-time data to come up with a forecast every five minutes for the next 48 hours, said Paldanius. We have very high accuracy for the load forecasts for the next 12 hours, and more than 90 percent for the next 12 hours after that.

Wrtsil expects that accuracy to improve even further as GEMS analyzes more data and tweaks its algorithms to pick up on more nuanced and less predictable load changes.

Equally important is GEMS prediction of the renewable generation available to meet electricity demand. On Bonaire, that means forecasting the wind resource available over the next 48 hours. As with load forecasts, projections of wind generation take place every five minutes and take into account a mix of weather data from global and local providers. Historic and weather prediction data is then combined with real-time wind meter readings from turbines on the island.

The load and generation forecasts also feed directly into how GEMS dispatches assets. The software is designed to dispatch the assets in a way that delivers the lowest-cost electricity while maintaining the island grids reliability.

To do that, GEMS takes into account operational constraints of the different assets, including the minimum runtime and ramp rates for the engines, the long-term economic impact of cycling the battery storage system, and how much backup power is needed. GEMS evaluates the optimal dispatch needed to achieve the lowest LCOE every five minutes.

GEMS has real-time frequency and voltage controls that operate on a millisecond timeframe, said Paldanius.

Since being installed last March, GEMS has been able to deliver significant benefits to Bonaire. Wind curtailment has been reduced significantly, and today wind provides as much as 33 percent of the islands energy. In addition, engine fuel consumption has been reduced by 5 percent and carbon emissions are down 8 percent.

Narminio says that Contour now has plans to add a solar PV plant to the islands grid in early 2020. The result will be days when the island runs on 100 percent renewable energy.

When you have a high wind season, we can surely have days when we have 100 percent renewable penetration because we can have the PV, we can have the wind, and we can have the battery and the inverter keeping the grid stable, he said. Therefore, we can easily stop all of the thermal machines.

The same 100 percent renewable targets are also achievable on much larger grids. What it requires are sophisticated energy management systems like GEMS and market rules that incentivize battery storage paired with renewable resources. I think youll see things like day-ahead dispatchable solar plants now that we have advanced forecasting, said Paldanius.

We have the tools to do this already. Its now about policies and market products. When it comes to reaching 100 percent, the islands will show us the way.

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The Caribbean Shows the Way to a Renewable Future - Greentech Media News

One of the Caribbeans leading eco resorts is making a return in 2020, Caribbean Journal has learned.

The beloved Rosalie Bay Resort in Dominica is reopening in February 2020.

The property, which has already begun taking reservations for stays in February, had been shuttered since Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Were back, stronger than ever after a direct hit from Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Our experience and values remain the same, the property said in.a statement. The sea turtles returned, lush vegetation once again enrobes our island and songbirds are calling..

Rosalie Bay is set on the lush, raw and beautiful eastern coast of Dominica, a strong location for enjoying the islands myriad adventures, including 300 miles of trails.

The eco retreat has a total of 28 rooms and suites, all with local art, porches or balconies with garden, river or ocean views, and soundproof, serene construction.

The hotel will add to an increasingly impressive hotel product developing in Dominica, from Secret Bay to the newly-launched Kempinski.

For more, visit Rosalie Bay.

CJ

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This Top Caribbean Eco-Resort Is Returning in 2020 - Caribbean Journal

The agreement marks the first time that a British institution has apologised for the profits it made from slavery and attaches both money and resources to help make amends.

October 20, 2019 by Global Voices Leave a Comment

By Janine Mendes-Franco

Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies,Professor Sir Hilary Beckles,and the University of Glasgows Chief Operating Officer, Dr. David Duncan, recently signed ahistoric agreementfor slavery reparations the first such contract since people enslaved by the British werefully emancipatedin 1838.

Never before has a UK-based institution thatprofited from slaveryapologised forits role and even more importantly put its money where its mouth is. Quite fittingly, the 20 million agreement ( $24,308,500 USD) was signed at The UWIs regional headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, on July 31, 2019 the day on which full emancipationfinally took effect181 years prior (and the eve of the annualEmancipation holidaythat many regional territories celebrate).

That 20 million, symbolic ofthe sumthe British governmentpaidto slave owners as compensation for the abolition of slavery, will be used for research and other development-based initiatives between the two universities over the next 20 years, under the auspices of theGlasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research, which is to be jointly owned and run. The aim is for the centre to find solutions for some of the Caribbeans most pressing developmental challenges, includingeconomics,public health care, and even issues of culturalidentity. It will be established on both universities campuses by September 2019.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Sir Hilary McDonald Beckles (left), and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (right), at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica November 17, 2017. IMF Photo/Krzystof Rucinski, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Ever since2013, when he waselectedas Chair of theCARICOM Regional Reparations Commission, aimed at outlin[ing] the path to reconciliation, truth, and justice for the victims of slavery and their descendants, Sir Beckles has beenat the forefrontof the regions lobby for reparations.

In a 2019 interview with regional magazineCaribbean Beat, he said that being a Windrushchild sealed his destiny of being involved in aspects of the black journey. He also noted the transformational power of theUniversity of the West Indies currently ranked among the top five percent of the best universities worldwide in building a resilient, sustainable region:

The last fifty years, weve built the Caribbean out of the colonial rubble. The issues in front of us this time are very different. An important role of UWI is to help clarify this historic moment and develop conversations about the next half-century. [] My focus was always on economic development and the role that education can play in the economic transformation of our societies. []

Reparations is connected to economic development. [] Im the vice president of the UNESCO Global Slave Routes project, the chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, along with other hats. Im responsible for developing a framework for the research of slavery on a global basis. I spend a lot of time in Africa, Latin America, and Asia looking at how black slavery was globalised. Everything is connected. Britain has a role to play in putting back some of the money it milked from the Caribbean for its own development. Having achieved its own transformation, weve been left with the results of that extraction. I believe we have a right! Britain should return to the scene of the crime, and participate in cleaning up the mess it left behind.

In the context of the UKsrepeated dismissalofthe subject of reparations, thisMemorandum of Understandingwith the University of Glasgow isbeing hailedasseminal. Sir Beckles applauded the University of Glasgows stance that a university cannot be excellent if it is not ethical,addingthat the agreement has put the institution on moral high ground.

This post was previously published on Globalvoices.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license CC BY-ND 3.0.

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Two Universities Sign Historic Agreement on Slavery Reparations in the Caribbean - The Good Men Project

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ATLANTIC CITY A cruise ship passenger suffered a stroke aboard Royal Caribbeans Adventure of the Seas and hadto beairlifted to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center from more than 100 miles off the Jersey Shore, according to the Coast Guard.

The medevac took place after the Coast Guard was contacted by the ships crewvia satellite phone about 6:20 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

The ship, which is 1,020 feet in length with a crew of 1,180 and which can accommodate more than 4,000 passengersis on a 13-day, one-way cruise from Quebec City, Canada to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The voyage began Oct. 7 and is scheduled to endSunday.

On Friday night, the vessel was moving south off the coast of Beaufort, South Carolina.

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FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2017, file photo, The Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas, arrives at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Royal Caribbean has announced that its ship Adventure of the Seas will resume port calls to St. Thomas on Nov. 10, and that the ship hopes to be in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Martin by the end of November. It's one of a number of initiatives from the travel industry to remind consumers that the region is recovering from the impact of recent hurricanes. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File) ORG XMIT: FLLAU501(Photo: Joe Cavaretta, AP)

Coast Guard duty officers consulted with a flight surgeon after the call to discuss a course of action. The physician recommended that the passenger be evacuated to the shore for medical treatment.

An Air Station Atlantic City-based MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew was launched to conduct the airlift. Elsewhere, Air Station Elizabeth City in North Carolina dispatched a fixed-wing, Lockheed HC-130J for support in the operation, according to the Coast Guard.

An EMS squad waited for the helicopter to land whenthe passenger was transported to the regional trauma center.

Tight squeeze: Cruise ship passes through Greek Canal with only 5 feet of breathing room

More: Royal Caribbean targets Vanuatu for first carbon-neutral private cruise destination

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Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2019/10/19/royal-caribbean-cruise-requests-help-coast-guard-off-jersey-shore/4035976002/

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Royal Caribbeans Adventure of the Seas requests help from Coast Guard off Jersey Shore - USA TODAY

Diving off St. Thomas reveals coral-encrusted reefs, archways, caves, rocks, pinnacles, a couple of intriguing wrecks, and tunnels at Thatch Cayall home to beautiful schools of fish (up to 500 species) and somewhat less beautiful barracuda. On St. Johns east end, Eagle Shoals is such a beautiful dive (when the sea is calm) that it has been the venue of several underwater weddings. And on St. Croix, a shore dive from Cane Bay reveals coral heads, 19th-century anchors, a colorful reef, and an almost bottomless wall. Every beach in the U.S. Virgin Islands offers great snorkeling, but Trunk Bay Beach on St. John has a marked underwater trail that is especially appealing to beginners. A snorkeling trip to Congo Cay, just off the north shore of St. John, is a popular day sail. And on St. Croix, the mostly submerged 19,000-acre Buck Island National Monument, a short boat ride from Christiansted, has a beautiful beach, an underwater snorkel trail, and abundant marine life.

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Best Snorkeling and Scuba Destinations in the Caribbean - Fodor's Travel