Silver Whisper accidents and incidents

19 May 2024Crew / Passenger Crimes

On May 19, 2024, the dead body of a newborn baby was discovered in a crew cabin shared by the mother and other crew members. The 28-year-old woman (Filipino) was arrested and charged with voluntary manslaughter/murder for allegedly letting her baby die.

The alarm was raised by the woman's colleagues/two roommates on the evening of May 19th, while the ship was near Monte Argentario's coast (Grosseto Province, Tuscany, Italy).

Local police officers boarded the ship and conducted a thorough search of the cabin and other areas, collecting photo evidence and initial testimonies.

Reportedly, the woman concealed her pregnancy (out of fear of losing the job) and gave birth on board, ~2 days before the incident.

In a confused state, she was taken to the emergency room in Grosseto. On the morning of May 20th, the prosecutor's office decided to arrest her. The baby's body was delivered to Ospedale Della Misericordia Grosseto (morgue) for autopsy.

Preliminary examinations indicated that the baby's death was not due to suffocation. Instead, it appeared the mother left the newborn in the cabin unattended for hours, without providing nourishment/breastfeeding and medical care. The baby most probably died from starvation.

The incident occurred during the 9-day Western Mediterranean Cruise (itinerary May 18-27, from Civitavecchia-Rome to Villefranche-sur-Mer/Nice) visiting Porto Santo Stefano (May 19), Portoferraio, Elba Island (May 20), Alghero, Sardinia Island (May 21), Ajaccio, Corsica Island (May 22), Santa Margherita Ligure (May 23), Marseille (May 24) and Menton (May 25).

January 2022Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On January 19, 2022, during the scheduled dock at Guayaquil (Ecuador), the local authorities required passengers to go ashore only in groups (via 8 buses) after the ship reported that a total of 11 (out of 228, plus 283 crew) passengers tested COVID-positive.

The cases were discovered during routine onboard testings, and all were asymptomatic.

The incident occurred during a 14-night South America voyage (itinerary Jan 18 - Feb 1, from Guayaquil to Ushuaia) with call ports in Chile (Arica, Antofagasta, Valparaiso, Puerto Montt, Laguna San Rafael NP) and Argentina (Ushuaia/overnight).

04 February 2020Other Incidents

On February 4, 2020, Silver Whisper met the fleetmate Silver Cloud in Antarctica. Both vessels anchored at Wilhelmina Bay located between Reclus Peninsula and Cape Anna (west-coast Graham Land, Antarctica).

Silver Whisper was on World Cruise 2020 (139-day itinerary "Legends of Cruising", Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam, January 6 through May 25) and cruising along Antarctic Peninsula between February 4-7. Silver Cloud was on a 10-day itinerary ("Antarctica with Silver Cloud Expedition", February 8-18) roundtrip from Ushuaia Argentina.