Costa Diadema accidents and incidents

20 February 2023Crew / Passenger Deaths

On February 20, 2023, a 55-year-old male crew was found dead in his cabin/bed by a roommate. Reportedly, for some time, the Indonesian man (who worked in the engine room) for several days had been complaining of a severe headache. The probable cause of death was a sudden cardiac arrest.

The body was offloaded in Port Cagliari (Sardinia Island, Italy) and transported to Cagliari's Cimitero Di San Michele/Communal Cemetery.

The Costa cruise ship was without passengers and on Feb 17th (7 am thru 4 pm UTC) was at anchorage off Port Naples.

18 April 2022Drug Smuggling

On April 18, 2022, during embarkation/boarding the ship at the Cruise Terminal in homeport Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil), a total of six passengers (5x Brazilians, 1x Argentinian) were arrested and charged with drug trafficking.

The smugglers attempted to board the liner carrying a total of ~30 kg (66 pounds) of cocaine hidden in suitcases and also wrapped around a man's waist (1,74 kg). The Customs officers were alerted by a sniffer dog.

The incident occurred at the beginning of the 18-day Transatlantic crossing (RepositionCruises.com) from South America to Europe/Mediterranean (Santos to Marseille, itinerary April 18 - May 6) with call ports in Brazil (Salvador de Bahia, Maceio), Canary Islands (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), Spain (Cadiz, Barcelona), Italy (Savona) and France (Marseille).

December 2021Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On December 27, 2021, the ship docked at Port Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) with a total of 13 COVID-positive cases (10 passengers plus 3 crew), reportedly all were asymptomatic. The next departure was delayed, but the itinerary was not impacted.

The infected and their close contacts were immediately quarantined onboard.

The liner was operating a 7-day "South America Holiday Cruise" (Dec 20-27) roundtrip from homeport Santos with call ports Salvador de Bahia and Ilheus.

October 2020Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On October 11, 2020, after disembarking in Port Palermo (Sicily Italy), 7 of the passengers tested positive for COVID-19. Prior to the voyage (before boarding), all passengers were subjected to swab tests which returned negative for the virus.

Genova La Sanita Marittima (Genoa Maritime Health authority) requested Costa Cruises to swab test all the ship's crew in Port Genoa before the next planned voyage start (in the evening on October 12).

On October 15, Costa Cruises announced to prematurely terminate Diadema's current cruise “in consideration of the epidemiological situation in France”. The voyage was a full ship charter deal with a French tour operator and Diadema was carrying only French passengers. On October 16 the ship returned to homeport Genoa directly from Naples as the planned charter itinerary was cancelled.

Note: Following the Coronavirus-related suspension of voyages globally, Costa Cruises restarted operations with 3 liners only - Diadema, Deliziosa and Smeralda, which were scheduled for 7-day Eastern and Western Mediterranean itineraries leaving roundtrip from Italian ports and visiting only ports in Italy. The company's schedule for these vessels was not changed and the service continued to operate regularly.

• Deliziosa started on Sept 6 (from Trieste), Diadema on Sept 21 (from Genoa) and Smeralda on Oct 10 (from Savona).
• Costa Deliziosa  from Trieste visited Bari, Brindisi, Corigliano-Rossano and Sicily (Siracusa and Catania)
• Costa Diadema from Genoa visited Civitavecchia-Rome, Naples, Cagliari Sardinia, Palermo Sicily, La Spezia.
• Costa Smeralda from Savona visited Genoa, La Spezia, Cagliari Sardinia, Naples, Messina Sicily, Civitavecchia-Rome.

March 2020Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On March 26, 2020, the liner was circling in the Mediterranean awaiting permission for docking in Italy (the port is yet to be defined, but was mentioned Civitavecchia's Lazio Pier). Reportedly, the ship was carrying 65 people experiencing COVID-19 (Coronavirus) symptoms.

Officially, there were no Coronavirus cases on Diadema. While navigating off Italy's coast, the ship reported a total of 80 crew (not 65) being in isolation (quarantined in separate cabins). The isolated crew were in contact with a fellow crew medevaced in Limassol (Cyprus) after showing respiratory insufficiency.

01 January 2020Crew / Passenger Deaths

(CruiseMapper emailed accident report by Jurgen Waechter) Costa Diadema. 1-2 man overboard? Passengers were woken up in cabins at 3:30 AM on January 1, 2020. Everyone had to report to their Musterstation for Full Ship Counting in search for 1-2 missing passengers. The ship then began a 2,5-hour nightly search at sea, arriving late on final destination Dubai the same morning. Loudspeaker announcements only beginning at 8:30 AM told of an official search activity ordered by Abu Dhabi Authorities.

The incident allegedly occurred during the 7-day New Year's Eve cruise (itinerary December 28 - January 4) roundtrip from homeport Dubai (UAE) to Muscat (Oman), Doha (Qatar) and Abu Dhabi (UAE), while the liner was en-route from Abu Dhabi back to Dubai (Port Rashid).

23 October 2015Crew / Passenger Crimes

(sexual) On October 23, 2015, a 50-year-old male crew was arrested for sexual molestation of a 15-year-old female passenger. The man (of Honduran origin, working on the ship as a cleaner) was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a minor.

The incident occurred in her cabin, while the ship was docked in homeport La Spezia Italy. The young girl traveled together with relatives (aunt and uncle). After dinner, she left the Dining Room restaurant "Scudo Rosso" (Deck 3) and went to her cabin. The crew entered the cabin and began touching her private parts sexually and kissing her. After the girl managed to break free and escape, she told her relatives, who reported the incident to the ship’s security staff who informed the local police.

27 August 2015Crew / Passenger Crimes

(sexual) On August 28, 2015, a 30-year-old male crew was arrested and accused of raping an 18-year-old female passenger. The incident occurred while the ship was docked in call port Naples Italy (August 27).

The man (Mark Guinucud, of Filipino origin) worked on the ship as a bartender. He followed the woman (of French origin) into her cabin and brutally raped her. The man was arrested when the ship arrived in the itinerary’s next call port La Spezia Italy (Aug 28).

The crew had a booked flight for Aug 29 from Pisa to the Philippines, but the Italian deputy prosecutor Claudia Merlino issued an arrest warrant and blocked the suspect from flying. The cruise ship was on 6-day Mediterranean cruise (itinerary Aug 24-30) roundtrip from homeport Marseille France.