Coast Guard sets up safety zone in St. Thomas for visit by world’s biggest cruise ship

Guard: No-go zone set up for cruiser’s USVI visit

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands — The U.S. Coast Guard says it will set up a special safety zone around St. Thomas harbor for a port call by the world’s biggest cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean’s 16-deck, 225,000-ton Oasis of the Seas will steam into St. Thomas on Tuesday morning after traveling from the company’s private Labadee port in northern Haiti on its maiden voyage.

Coast Guard Capt. Eduardo Pino said Sunday that other boats will be banned from traveling or anchoring within the no-go zone while the massive cruiser is entering and exiting the port.

Pino says the safety zone is necessary “to provide for the safety of spectators and other vessels.”