Around 2,500 crew members are stranded onboard the Norwegian Epic cruise ship thanks to the novel coronavirus COVID-19.<br />Because they cannot disembark over coronavirus fears around the world, thousands of crew members have been stuck on vessels for months.<br />Many of these crew members are no longer receiving pay as they await the chance to return home.<br />When two crew members died on board the Norwegian Gem in April, news spread by word of mouth, rather than official cruise-line channels.<br />According to Business Insider, crew members have now been threatened with termination if caught leaking information to the media.<br />A member of the crew's management said "such offenses might lead to dismissal from the ship or even prosecution by shoreside authorities."