- Oakland city council president Rebecca Kapan has proposed using cruise ships to house as many as 1,000 homeless people, KRON-4 TV reported .
- Kapan's plan reportedly faces a significant roadblock, as officials at the port of Oakland have said the port's infrastructure would not be able to handle a cruise ship.
- New York City and San Francisco have in the past also explored the idea of using ships as homeless shelters.
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An Oakland City Council member wants to use cruise ships to house homeless people — but her plan faces a big obstacle
J Pat Carter/Associated Press
Oakland city council president Rebecca Kapan has proposed using cruise ships to house as many as 1,000 homeless people, KRON-4 TV reported .
Kapan's plan reportedly faces a significant roadblock, as officials at the port of Oakland have said the port's infrastructure would not be able to handle a cruise ship.
Kapan is not the first to explore the idea of using ships as homeless shelters. New York City did so in 2002, but ultimately rejected the plan because the costs of remodeling the ships would have been too high. In 2016, Art Agnos, the former mayor of San Francisco, proposed housing homeless people in a former Navy aircraft carrier.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency used cruise ships to shelter evacuees of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Oakland's homeless population grew 47% between 2017 and 2019. The city's per-capita homelessness rate is now higher than San Francisco's.
Read KRON-4 TVs full story here .
Have you worked on a cruise ship? Do you have a story to share? Email this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com .
- Read more:
- The parents of the toddler who fell from the 11th floor of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship are suing the company
- The 10 nastiest cruise ships that have sailed in the US
- Cruise-ship workers reveal how much money they make
- The number of reported allegations of sexual assault on cruise ships was up 32% during the first three-quarters of this year
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See Also:
- The parents of the toddler who fell from the 11th floor of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship are suing the company
- GM's former president is now running the self-driving-car company Cruise. He says it's time to move past the automobile.
- Boeing removed a feature that protects its 787 planes during lightning strikes as a cost-cutting measure, even after FAA experts objected
SEE ALSO: Cruise-line workers reveal one of the worst parts of living on a cruise ship
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