An MSC Cruises passenger has died after falling overboard while the ship was docked in Valletta, the capital of Malta.
The 72-year-old American passenger fell from the MSC World Europa on 14th February, but it’s not clear what caused the incident. The man was quickly recovered from the water, but was unconscious. He was taken to the local hospital but was sadly pronounced dead shortly after being admitted.
An official inquiry is now underway to determine what happened, although the efforts of the local port teams to recover the man so quickly and ensure his swift transport to hospital have been praised.
Unfortunately, this is just the latest in a string of incidents with MSC Cruises. A man recently jumped overboard from MSC Bellissima while on a cruise from Taiwan to Okinawa, though his fall was intentional, and he swam to shore where he was arrested.
Prior to that, passengers have gone overboard from MSC Preziosa and MSC Armonia in December 2023, and a crew member went overboard on MSC Seascape in November 2023. Those people all disappeared and were sadly never recovered.
Once the crew are alerted that someone has gone overboard, the ship will typically spend a few hours trying to search for them until it becomes clear that it’s a futile exercise.
Most people who go overboard do pass away – depending on the height of the fall, that alone can be fatal, and then there is a risk of being sucked under the ship or drowning.
The MSC World Europa was on a 7-night cruise from Barcelona, and had already called at Marseille, Genoa, Civitavecchia (for Rome) and Palermo before arriving in Valletta, the final port before returning to Barcelona.
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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.
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hi Jennie here is one for you to cover. MSC cruise ship Seashore has hot tubs on some balconies nice right but they don’t tell you they have cameras on you and may even be making videos of you in your not so private suite some one needs to stop that may be you! this is a crime
Thanks for your comment on this. Please could you email me at [email protected] with more info? Thanks. Jenni
Thank you for these articles and lists. These have been so helpful for my trip on MSC Bellissima, the one mentioned in the article here which I boarded at Okinawa.
The emergency announcement was made just as the Muster Station drill was ending in the London Theatre for embarking passengers.