MSC Grandiosa accidents and incidents

14 April 2024Crew / Passenger Deaths

overboard/suicide (CruiseMapper-emailed report from Joao)

Hi, I'm currently in MSC Grandiosa, docked in Casablanca. At around 7:30 PM local time [~18:30 UTC] we had a Man Overboard alert. A couple of minutes later an announcement was made that they recovered the person and he/she was in medical [infirmary] for evaluation.

We were supposed to leave the port at 10 pm, but left 2 hours later, at midnight.

The speculation I heard from a crew is that it was supposedly a woman, jumping from her deck 13 cabin balcony. From accounts of people who saw the rescue, she was motionless when rescued, so possibly a fatal incident.

Note: The incident occurred at the end of the 19-day Transatlantic crossing (RepositionCruises.com) from Santos to Valencia (itinerary March 30 through April 18) visiting destinations in Brazil (Ilhabela/Mar 31, Ilha Grande/Apr 1, Buzios/Apr 2, Rio de Janeiro/Apr 3), Spain's Canary Islands (Santa Cruz de Tenerife/Apr 12), Morocco (Casablanca/Apr 14, scheduled port stay 7 am - 10 pm) and Spain (Malaga/Apr 16, and Valencia/Apr 18).

07 October 2022Coast Guard Medevacs

On October 7, 2022, the liner docked at Port Palma de Mallorca (Majorca Island, Balearic Spain) ~7 hours earlier than scheduled due to a medical emergency (a male passenger suffering from serious respiratory problems).

The vessel was scheduled to dock at ~8 am (~6 am UTC) but instead berthed at ~1 am. An ambulance was immediately dispatched to the terminal, and the large man was quickly taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.

The incident occurred during a 7-day Mediterranean voyage (itinerary Oct 1-8, roundtrip from Barcelona) visiting France (Cannes), Italy (Genoa, La Spezia, Civitavecchia-Rome) and Palma de Mallorca (Oct 7/scheduled port stay 9 am - 11 pm).

14 April 2022Coast Guard Medevacs

On April 14, 2022, a 25-year-old male passenger was medevaced by the Italian Coastguard. The man (a French national, suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding) was airlifted and transported by a rescue helicopter crew, then hospitalized in Cagliari (at Azienda Ospedaliera Brotzu).

For the medevac, the Cagliari Port Authority (Sardinia) dispatched a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter from Decimomannu Air Base (Coast Guard Section 4).

The medical evacuation occurred when MSC Grandiosa was approx 37 km / 23 mi off the Sant'Antioco Island (southwestern Sardinia Island), en route to Valletta (Malta). To facilitate the medevac, the cruise ship headed towards Canale di San Pietro (between the islands Sant'Pietro and Sant'Antioco) to meet the rescue helicopter.

The incident occurred during the 7-day Mediterranean voyage (Apr 11-18, roundtrip from Genoa) with call ports Civitavecchia-Rome, Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona, and Marseille.

January 2022Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On January 3, 2022, a total of 45 COVID-positive passengers were disembarked in Port Genoa (Italy).

The liner, carrying a total of 4813 people (passengers plus crew), was operating a 7-day Mediterranean Holiday Cruise (itinerary Dec 28 - Jan 4, roundtrip from Port Civitavecchia-Rome) with call ports Palermo Sicily (Dec 29), Valletta Malta (Dec 30), Barcelona (Dec 31-Jan 1/overnight), Marseille (Jan 2) and Genoa (Jan 3/port stay 7 am - 5 pm).

All crew and passengers (12-yo and over) were fully vaccinated, while kids (under 12-yo) were required to submit a negative PCR test prior to boarding/departure. The infected (discovered during routing testings onboard) and their close contacts were quarantined/"immediately isolated in balcony cabins".

According to MSC, all crew on Grandiosa are PCR-tested every 2 days, while tourists are tested thrice - at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the voyage.

MSC denied Italian media reports about a higher number of COVID cases on Grandiosa. The next scheduled voyage was not impacted.

25 June 2021Coast Guard Medevacs

On June 25, 2021, a female passenger (suffering from severe abdominal pain and internal bleeding) was medevaced from the ship navigating approx 30 km (18 mi) south of Port Marsala (western Sicily Island, Italy).

The incident occurred after Grandiosa left Malta (Valletta, on June 24) en route to Spain (Barcelona, June 26). At 1:30 AM, the ship's Captain contacted Trapani Port Authority to request the emergency medical evacuation.

The medevac was conducted by Guardia Costiera (Italy's Coast Guard) via a patrol boat dispatched from Marsala to intersect the cruise liner. The Italian woman was offloaded to the boat, transported to Marsala and ambulanced to Paolo Borsellino hospital.

May 2020Other Incidents

About 200 crew from India (mostly from the states Maharashtra and Goa) remained quarantined for 70 days on the cruise liner berthed at Port Civitavecchia (Rome, Italy).

The vessel started a 7-day Western Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona Spain (March 12) and visited Marseille (France) and Palermo (Sicily) before cancelling the voyage and docking in Civitavecchia on March 15, when Italy was lockdown due to highly increasing number of Coronavirus (COVID-19)-related deaths.

Since March 15, the shipowner MSC Cruises made 4 attempts to repatriate the crew (via charter flights) back to India, but all failed, the latest being on May 23.

Onboard safety measures included the isolation of all the crew in separate passenger staterooms. Complimentary access to TV and Wi-Fi Internet was provided, but the crew was not allowed to leave the cabins and contact with each other. The ship's remaining (essential) personnel included the Captain (Marco Massa) and management staff (all Italians) plus security guards (from Israel).

30 December 2019Ship Collision / Allision

On December 30, 2019, at ~9:30 am, while manoeuvering for berthing in Port Palermo (Sicily Island, Italy), due to high winds the ship collided with the pier.

The crash resulted in minor stern hull damage (aft, above waterline) and also part of the dock (a small section) was destroyed.

The collision occurred at the end of 7-day Mediterranean cruise (itinerary Dec 23-30) roundtrip from homeport Palermo (Italy) visiting ports in Malta (Valletta), Spain (Barcelona), France (Marseille) and Italy (Genoa, Civitavecchia-Rome).

Note: Actually, this type of marine accident is called “allision” (striking a fixed object) as opposed to “collision” (striking another vessel).