MSC Seashore accidents and incidents

14 March 2023Crew / Passenger Crimes

(sexual) On March 14, 2023, a 25-year-old male crew was arrested in Port Maceio (Brazil). The man was accused of raping a female colleague and arrested based on the victim's report to the local police.

According to the victim's registered complaint, she was drugged by the assailant prior to the assault, which classifies the crime as drug-facilitated sexual assault (aka "predator rape").

The incident occurred during the 7-day "South America Brazil Cruise" (itinerary March 11-18, roundtrip from homeport Santos/Sao Paulo) with call ports Maceio (Mar 14/port stay 9 am - 4 pm), Salvador de Bahia (Mar 15) and Buzios (Mar 17).

The sexual incident was reported to Superintendencia Regional de Policia Federal de Alagoas while the cruise ship was at sea, so the police officers were able to board the ship and make the arrest after MSC Seashore docked in Maceio.

Both the victim and the accused were Brazilian (residents of Sao Paulo).

09 November 2022Drug Smuggling

On November 9, 2022, eight American cruise ship tourists were arrested in Ocho Rios (Jamaica) after trying to leave the island country with cocaine (total weight 912 pounds/~414 kilos) valued at ~USD 130 million.

According to Ocho Rios port's schedule, MSC Seashore was the only cruise vessel at the port on Nov 9th. The liner was on a 15-day "Caribbean and Bahamas Cruise" (B2B/back-to-back itinerary October 29 - November 13, roundtrip from Miami) with call ports San Juan (Puerto Rico), Charlotte Amalie (St Thomas USVI), Puerto Plata (Dominicana), MSC Ocean Cay (Bahamas), Nassau (Bahamas), Miami, MSC Ocean Cay, Ocho Rios (Nov 9/port stay 8 am - 4 pm), George Town Harbour (Grand Cayman) and Cozumel (Mexico)..

According to the Jamaican police (Jamaica CCU), the arrested were part of a drug trafficking syndicate operating between the USA and Jamaica, and all of them arrived in Ocho Rios from Miami and disembarked the ship on Nov 9th. The arrest was conducted at ~1:30 pm during embarkation/reboarding the ship for departure. During a search by the police's Narcotics Division, a total of 24x packages containing cocaine (each weighing 38 pounds/17,2 kg) were found concealed in their luggage.

22 December 2021Crew / Passenger Deaths

(suicide) On December 22, 2021, at ~19:30 Honduras time (~13:30 UTC) an overboard passenger was reported while the ship was en route from Roatan Island back to homeport Miami (Florida USA).

The 15-year-old boy fell off a Suite balcony (forward-portside on Lido Deck /deck 16) landing on Deck 8's Promenade. According to MSC (based on CCTV footage), the kid jumped intentionally/committed suicide.

The accident occurred at the end of a 5-day Caribbean itinerary (Dec 18-23, roundtrip from PortMiami) visiting Mexico (Costa Maya) and Honduras (Isla Roatan).

December 2021Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On December 23, 2021, after arriving and docking in PortMiami (Florida USA), MSC announced in a letter that a total of 28 people (passengers and crew/out of 4714 or 0,59%) on Seashore tested COVID-positive. According to the company's protocols, all adult passengers and crew were fully vaccinated and tested negative prior to boarding the ship in homeport Miami.

The positive crew were disembarked and quarantined in a Miami hotel for 14 days. The positive passengers and their close contacts were isolated (quarantined in balcony cabins) in a separate area onboard. According to MSC's statement, most of the infected were asymptomatic, some experienced mild symptoms.

The incident occurred during a B2B cruise (5-day + 7-day) 12-day Caribbean and Bahamas itinerary (Dec 18-30, roundtrip from Miami) with call ports in Mexico (Costa Maya), Honduras (Isla Roatan), Miami (Dec 23/port stay 7 am - 5 pm), Bahamas (Ocean Cay, Nassau), Dominicana (Puerto Plata) and again Ocean Cay.

The liner's schedule was not impacted, but the call at Ocean Cay (Dec 30th) was canceled/replaced with a seaday after the Bahamian authorities denied entry to MSC's private island.

March 2021Other Incidents

In late-March 2021, MSC canceled a total of 35 more itineraries scheduled for Seashore ship's inaugural season in the Mediterranean. The canceled departures (June 13 through July 31) were 7-day roundtrips from homeports in Italy (Genoa, Naples, Messina Sicily), France (Marseille), and Spain (Barcelona).

The Maiden Voyage was once again rescheduled - for August 1, 2021 - leaving from Civitavecchia-Rome to Barcelona (5-day), Marseille (6-day) and Genoa (7-day).

June 2020Structural and Technical Issues

MSC bookings on Seashore cruises were opened on June 27, 2019. Sales were open exclusively for MSC Voyagers Club (loyalty program) members for a 2-week period. Bookings for general customers were opened on July 11, 2019.

Unfortunately, due to the March-May 2020 global Coronavirus pandemic, the vessel's construction was halted (Fincantieri's Monfalcone Shipyard was closed for ~2 months) which also resulted in delayed delivery to MSC Cruises (as future shipowner). A total of 35 itineraries were cancelled (roundtrip departures from homeports Genoa, Naples, Messina, Barcelona, Marseille), previously planned for June-July 2021.

The original inaugural cruise date (June 13, 2021, from Genoa) was rescheduled for August 1.