Source: Cruise Junkie dot Com


Events at Sea by MSC Cruises


The events listed have been reported in the public domain or to cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard.  The list is by no means comprehensive.  For that reason it is necessary to be cautious in drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data.  Keep in mind that some companies may be more transparent than others about things that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate.  With that said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns seen viewed separately by ship.



dd/mm/yy
Ship
2009
Incident
9.12.09 Sinfonia Independent Online (South Africa) reports "drunken revelry, debauchery and even vandalism by some passengers, allegedly characterised a three-day party on the luxury cruise liner MSC Sinfonia which ended in Durban yesterday. It was claimed that some passengers "went ape" at the Miller Rock the Boat Party on a cruise from Durban to Mozambique." According to a passenger, some of the young revellers "just went ape, openly bonking on the deck and throwing deck chairs into the sea". A crew member said: "It was unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it." A spokesman for MSC's sales agent Starlight Cruises said the 2 000 passengers had broken records for bar sales. Drunkenness / damage
5.3.09 Fantasia Think Spain reports one person was injured early this afternoon when a gangway joining the ship to the passenger terminal in Palma harbour collapsed. Three crew members also ended up in the sea and had to be fished out by the rescue services. The accident occurred as a result of the strong winds affecting the Balearic Islands today. At about 2.30pm today, as the passengers were disembarking from the cruise ship, a strong gust of wind ripped several of the bow moorings off the bollards and the boat lurched away from the quay, causing the gangway, at some 15m above the sea, to collapse. The passenger who was crossing the gangway at the time fell into the water, hitting their head on the side of the ship on the way down, prompting three crew members to dive into the water to rescue him. All four have been treated for hypothermia and the injured passenger, whilst currently in the care of the cruise company's medical staff, might still be moved to a hospital in Palma. Click here for a video of the incident.
Gangway collapse
26.1.09
Sinfonia O Globo reports the cruise following the outbreak reported January 8 (below) had 46 passengers (approximately 3%) report ill. That was on a cruise between Rio and Buenos Aires.
Illness
8.1.09
Sinfonia
The Associated Press reports that more than 340 passengers were stricken with severe vomiting and diarrhea.  The Brazilian National Agency for Sanitary Vigilance said in a statement that an inspection found problems with the amount of chlorine in the ship's drinking water and with the storage of some perishable food items, notably mayonnaise. But officials said they would not know what caused the illness until they wrap up their investigation. The health agency said the outbreak was under control, and the victims were being interviewed and treated on board the ship. Most fell ill on Monday and Tuesday. UPDATE: O Globo reports the illness outbreak affected 380 people and is attributed to norovirus. Estadao reports: The analysis of water was negative for all viruses and bacteria. In the analysis of food, were found traces of the bacterium Escherichia coli (known as E.coli) in samples of raw meat. Illness
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2008
Incident
6.6.08
Poesia &
Costa Classica
The two cruise ships collided in the Adriatic Sea near the Croatian tourist town of Dubrovnik, but no one was injured. According to Croatian media, "Two cruisers collided in the old town harbour. One of them had to make a full circle around the isle of Locrum before returning for the passengers waiting in boats." According to the first assessments, the damage was minimal and the accident occurred when cruiser Poesia's anchor loosened and caused her to hit cruiser Costa Classica. Both continued their scheduled itinerary with no delays. See here for a picture. Collision
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2007
Incident
10.11.07
Lirica
The one week Mediterranean cruise scheduled for today has been cancelled in order to accommodate repairs to damage suffered by the vessel when it scraped the pier in Civitavecchia on November 2. The ship went into drydock November 12 and is expected to depart, as scheduled on its transAtlantic cruise departing November 17. It arrives in Fort Lauderdale December 4.
Cancellation
2.11.07
Lirica
The ship was damaged in Civitavecchia when strong winds during the unmooring operation caused it to scrape the pier. An area between the bow and portside bulwarks was damaged. The company reported the collision to the Italian Coast Guard and classification society, and both inspected the vessel to guarantee its seaworthiness before sailing from Civitavecchia. The ship subsequently went into drydock November 12 to repair the damage. Its final cruise of the Mediterranean season was cancelled to accommodate the repais before the ship sails to the Fort Lauderdale for its winter season.
Scrapes pier and damage to hull
19.5.07
Rhapsody

The ship was "bumped" by Louis Cruises' Oceanic II in Rhodes due to 9 force winds. They had been berthed all morning, and in the late afternoon the winds were so strong that the mooring rope from the Oceanic snapped and the ship hit the Rhapsody's stern causing damage to the deck rail and flag pole.
Bump (Fender Bender)
5.5.07
Sinfonia
The ship was delayed an hour and half in disembarking passengers at Malta because of containers obstructing the edge of the Quay.  Until the containers were moved, it was not possible to lower the gangways to allow passengers to disembark.
Delayed disembark
27.3.07
Symphony Police stopped 82 Bolivians from disembarking the ship in Cadiz, suspecting they were illegal immigrants.  The ship sailed from Fortaleza in Brazil, had stopped in Tenerife where authorities also refused to allow them onshore.  The ship heads next to Valencia.
Passengers not allowed ashore
20.2.07
Melody
The ship set sail from Durban yesterday for a four-day cruise to ports and cities along the Mozambique coast, but after only five hours into its journey, it was forced to turn back after reports warned that Cyclone Favio was headed for Mozambique.  It cruised into Port Elizabeth tonight.  he ship subsequently left Wednesday night for Durban.
Weather
21.1.07
Opera
Posted at Cruise Critic: We were standing on our balcony watching people getting off. Two members of my family just got off the gangway when a rope snapped (or the pilot boat ran over it). The ship started to drift out to sea. The gangway fell into the water. I kept watching for people to bob up in the water. They were very fortunate nobody was on the gangway. The pilot boat was dead in the water with one of the ropes in his propeller. He was attached to the ship as other ropes got tangled/sucked into the thrusters, causing the pilot boat to be bashed into the bow of the ship repeatedly. We eventually drifted about a mile or more out to sea before tugs pushed us back. Divers were in the water for about 7 hours removing rope from various places under water. Not a thing was ever said except an announcement was made that “there would be delays” in continuing the debarkation. Instead of leaving port at 6:00 or 7:00 pm we pulled out at 0200. Gangway falls
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2006 and earlier
Incident
18.11.06
Melody
A 24 year old Samoan crew member who wasjilted by his girlfriend and a fellow crew member threw himself overboard while the ship was cruising off the Mozambique coast at about 2 AM.  The girlfriend reported the "man overboard" and a recovery operation was undertaken.  The bridge officers calculated where the man overoard would likely be based on currents, winds, and sea conditions -- at sunrise they found the man, alive, 500m from the anticipated recovery position (17 km from where the many had gone overboard).  The rescue will delay the ships arrival in Durban by about 5 hours.
Person Overboard
 --
 Rescued Alive
23.9.03
Melody

Ship ran into the pier at Kusadasi harbour.  Ship had to wait several days for repairs to be completed.
Collision