The company Submarine Safaris, which has one of its bases in Puerto Calero, states that they are "in a situation of some desperation". And it is that since the health crisis began, the Government of the Canary Islands has not allowed them to resume their activity, despite the fact that they argue that they have developed "a strict health protocol and implemented high-level measures" against Covid. "We find it hard to understand why we still cannot offer our product," they lament.
This company, like so many others, had to close its doors in March last year, when the state of alarm was decreed and the country had to confine itself. After the de-escalation, it intended to reopen, but on August 17, 2020, the Ministries of Health and Tourism, Industry and Commerce issued a joint order establishing an action protocol to deal with the pandemic with prevention measures in the tourism and commercial fields and, among them, it was specified that activities and services carried out in tourist submarines were prohibited.
"We were and are absolutely in agreement with the Government of the Canary Islands that measures must be taken to protect public health and the tourist economic activity of our Islands in order to achieve a prompt recovery of the same," they point out from Submarine Safaris, from where they nevertheless indicate that they were "quite surprised that those responsible for the decision did not contact them "at any time" to find out about their "expected standards with respect to this situation".
"We have invested a lot of money to be as prepared as possible"
After that, they decided to involve their lawyers in the matter, receiving "in the month of February 2021 a report, drafted by Public Health", in which they were informed "about the essential requirement" to be in a position to restart their activity. This, according to the company, was that they install "a Hepa filtration system, like the one airplanes have." However, they maintain that this "is not valid in a submarine due to humidity."
For this reason, they state that they were "assessing options to be able to comply with the required requirement" and that they finally opted to install "the air sterilization system of the company Sanity Air, which complies with all the necessary safety certifications of the European Union, verified by the CE marking"; which has an "effectiveness of 99.97%" and which "is the most suitable system to comply with all the requirements in submarines."
In addition, they point out that a report was prepared by Sanity Air, after having visited one of their submarines, "analyzing the conditions of the boat's cabin and the technical processes." "These reports were sent to the Ministry of Health, which received it on July 19," they indicated from Submarine Safaris, from where they hoped to be able to resume their activity before the end of the month.
However, they assure that they have not yet received a response from the corresponding authorities and that, therefore, they are still unable to reopen, "being one of the few companies that have not been able to resume their activity during this summer, even complying with health safety conditions."
"At least have an answer," they point out from Submarine Safaris, from where they affirm that the rest of the submarine excursion companies in the Canary Islands are "in the same situation." "We are in Tenerife and Lanzarote and in Gran Canaria there is another company with which we are in contact," they point out.
Economic losses and half a hundred affected workers
"All our efforts, developing a strict health protocol and implementing high-level measures, considering the complexity involved in our activity, have always been with the aim of reducing the risk of contagion by the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus as much as possible, always taking into consideration the safety of our clients and that of our team of workers," they explain from Submarine Safaris, from where they assure that they have invested "a lot of money to be as prepared as possible."
In addition, they are convinced that an excursion in one of their submarines, "with the measures implemented, the Sanity Air equipment disinfecting the air throughout the day, crew and passengers wearing masks all the time, use of disinfectant gels, etc., is much safer than, for example, a plane trip."
"We have a lot of demand and we are not the only ones who find it hard to understand why we still cannot offer our product. We receive calls daily from clients, hotels and agencies who want to book a dive in the submarine. And of course, our employees are eagerly awaiting the return to work," they point out from Submarine Safaris, from where they highlight how the restriction of the Government of the Canary Islands is affecting the company, "generating economic losses" and also its 48 employees, since "to this day most of them are in an ERTE situation."
"We are very eager to reactivate our activity and offer our submarine dives, thus generating income, not only for our company, but also for companies in the value chain and the State," say Submarine Safaris. And, they point out that the activation of their employees, who have "suspended contracts", would also mean "less expenses for the State."
