MSC Seaside accidents and incidents

18 May 2024Crew / Passenger Crimes

(sexual) On the morning of May 18, 2024, after docking at Port Genoa, the ship's security handed over to the local police three young French passengers accused of raping a 19-year-old Italian female passenger/student.

According to Italian media sources, the alleged sexual assault happened at sea, while MSC Seaside was en route from Marseille to Genoa. Reportedly, the suspects are just over 18 years old. After luring her into their cabin, they locked the door and forced themselves upon her.

The ship remained in Porto di Genova for ~12,5 hours (06:30-19:00 UTC) as the border police boarded to conduct an investigation. The alleged perpetrators were initially identified by the ship's security personnel, detained at the brig (the ship's prison) and later handed over to the Genovese police.

The police officers seized images from the CCTV cameras and found several witnesses of the crime. In the evening, after receiving approval from the Prosecutor's Office, MSC Seaside was cleared to continue the voyage.

The incident occurred in the end of the 7-day "Western Mediterranean Cruise" (itinerary May 11-18, roundtrip from Genoa) visiting Civitavecchia-Rome (May 12), Palermo Sicily (May 13), Ibiza Island (Ibiza Town/May 15), Valencia (May 16), and Marseille (May 17).

23 August 2022Coast Guard Medevacs

On August 23, 2022, the Italian Coast Guard medevaced a male crew from MSC Seaside, being en route from Sicily to Ibiza (Palermo to Ibiza Town). The ship was navigating approx 50 km / 30 mi off Sardinia Island's Capo Teulada (~55 km / 30 mi southwest of Cagliari).

The Captain's call for immediate assistance was received at ~1 pm (11:00 UTC), reporting an ill crew with a high fever. For the medical evacuation was dispatched a SAR aircraft/search and rescue helicopter from Decimomannu Air Base (Cagliari CG Helicopter Section).

To reduce rendezvous time with the helicopter, the cruise liner was brought closer to the coast. The man (Indian) was airlifted/hoisted from the ship's helipad and flown to Decimomannu Air Base, from where was ambulanced to Cagliari's Azienda Ospedaliera Brotzu hospital.

The incident occurred during a 7-day Mediterranean voyage visiting Genoa, Civitavecchia-Rome, Palermo (Sicily Italy), Ibiza Town (Ibiza Spain), Valencia, and Marseille.

02 July 2022Propulsion / Power Loss

On July 2, 2022, the ship encountered an electrical problem with one of the main diesel engines. The issue didn't affect the onboard safety and the vessel's seaworthiness but significantly reduced its max speed. As result, the next voyage was with a slightly modified itinerary to allow on-schedule debarkation (in homeports Genoa, Civitavecchia-Rome, Palermo, Valencia, Marseille) and home flights.

On July 8th, due to the electrical issue, MSC scheduled Seaside to enter drydock (at Fincantieri's shipyard in Palermo Sicily) from July 11 to July 18. A total of 5x 7-day voyages were canceled. Affected by the cancellation customers were provided with a full refund or rebooking (on another MSC liner).

03 April 2022Drug Smuggling

On April 3, 2022, after the ship docked at Port Valencia (Spain), ten passengers (4 men and 4 women) were arrested for smuggling a total of 54 kg (119 pounds) of cocaine. The drugs were with 70% purity and street value EUR 3+ million.

The arrest, conducted during debarkation, followed a positive signal from a K-9 unit. The drugs were hidden in a total of 15 suitcases (~3,5 kg per suitcase) that were already offloaded from the cruise liner and awaiting Customs clearance. After the narcotics dog pointed to the suitcases, they were thoroughly inspected and the cocaine was found in their double bottoms. All of the arrested were Brazilian nationals.

The drug bust occurred at the end of the 16-day Transatlantic repositioning cruise (itinerary March 20 - April 3, from South America to Europe / Santos Brazil to Marseille) with call ports in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), the Canaries (Santa Cruz de la Palma, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife), Madeira (Funchal) and Valencia.

On April 4th, following an onboard inspection after berthing in Port Marseille, the French police discovered another 12 kg (26,5 pounds) of cocaine concealed in passenger suitcases. The Customs officers arrested two Brazilians (Tayrana and Joao, occupying cabin 9185) who embarked the liner in Rio. The drugs were again discovered by a sniffer dog and valued ~EUR 0,5 million. Tayrana and Joao were sentenced to 2 years in jail each for drug trafficking.

30 March 2022Propulsion / Power Loss

On March 30, 2022, due to technical issues (with the main diesel engines), two call ports in the Canaries were canceled.

The accident occurred at the end of the 12-day Transatlantic crossing from South America to Europe (itinerary March 19-31, from Santos Brazil to Funchal Madeira) with scheduled call ports in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Salvador de Bahia, Maceio) and Spain's Canary Islands (Santa Cruz de La Palma, Santa Cruz de Tenerife). The planned visits to the islands La Palma (Mar 28) and Tenerife (Mar 30) were replaced with an overnight in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (for engine repairs).

Reportedly, two of the scheduled stops in Brazil (Salvador and Maceio) were also dropped from the itinerary.

The ship was mastered by Captain Lauro Maresca.

07 June 2021Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On June 7, 2021, Malta prohibited the ship from entering Port Valletta after two passengers tested positive for Coronavirus/COVID after routine tests during the voyage. The Malta call was part of a 7-day Central Mediterranean itinerary (June 1-8) roundtrip from Siracusa (Sicily Italy) with call ports Taranto, Civitavecchia-Rome, Genoa-Milan, and Valletta Malta.

In line with MSC's enhanced onboard health and safety protocols, all cruise tourists had to be fully vaccinated or undergo COVID testing prior to the voyage. After skipping Malta, MSC Seaside arrived in Siracusa at ~3 am on June 8 (4 hours earlier than scheduled).

On June 8, MSC announced that both passengers and their families had already left Siracusa (via MSC-organized protected transfers) "in accordance with the local health authorities". The next itinerary (June 8-15) was not affected.

19 January 2019Other Incidents

On January 19, 2019, the ship left PortMiami with additional 250+ VIP passengers participating in the onboard "FCCA PAMAC Cruise Summit 2019" (annually held industry event). Among the VIPs were Platinum Members (MSC Voyagers Club/loyalty program's highest tier) and regional stakeholders (traveling with their families and business partners), plus 20+ high-level FCCA executives. FCCA stands for "Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association", while PAMAC stands for "Platinum Associate Membership Advisory Council".

The special event was part of the 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise (itinerary January 19-26) roundtrip from homeport Miami to San Juan (Puerto Rico), Charlotte Amalie (St Thomas, USVI), Philipsburg (St Maarten) and Nassau (Bahamas).

The pre-planned onboard events included a series of meetings to discuss cruise industry-related topics, like regional affairs, trends, membership specifics, promotions, networking opportunities, partnerships, developments, and operations, also one-on-one meetings between executives, Platinum Members-only dinners. To all attendees were also offered complimentary shore excursions - flyboarding and food tours (St Thomas snorkeling (St Maarten) and Blue Lagoon Island (day-tour in Nassau).

17 November 2018Drug Smuggling

On November 17, 2018, seven crew were arrested in PortMiami and charged with cocaine smuggling. US Customs and Border Protection officers with K9 dogs boarded the docked cruise liner and found 17 pounds / 7,7 kg of cocaine (US street value around 1,2 million) plus over USD 100,000 in cash. The money and drugs were in their cabins and also strapped on their bodies.

Of the arrested, five were Jamaican men plus four South African women - Londiwe Shange (27yo), Wandile Mhlongo (29yo), Thembeka Sokhulu (36yo) and Viwe Tshaka (23yo). Mhlongo, Sokhulu, and Shange told FBI investigators that they had been earning around USD 2,000 for each run over the past two months.

Two of the Jamaican were jailed overnight (Nov 17-18), subsequently released, taken to the airport and flown back home with canceled seaman’s visas. One of the arrested men (32-year-old Damion Hawthorne) was charged with hiring 5 of the smugglers.

MSC Cruises contracts a private security company to conduct shipboard dog-sniffing checks at PortMiami. All the seven arrested were held on USD 250,000 bond, with Miami federal court arraignments scheduled for December 3 (2018).

The incident occurred at the end of 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise (itinerary Nov 10-17) roundtrip from homeport Miami to San Juan (Puerto Rico), Charlotte Amalie (St Thomas Island), Philipsburg (St Maarten Island), and Nassau (Bahamas).

18 September 2018Crew / Passenger Crimes

(CruiseMapper-emailed crew theft report from Greg Finley) I and my wife Connie were cruising on Seaside for our 29th anniversary. On September 18, 2018, between 6:15 and 6:30 am, the room steward brought us coffee and swiped my wife’s wedding ring off the desk. This person could have been caught if security would have isolated and looked at the camera outside 12265.

We are out somewhere between 15 and 20 thousand dollars. I contacted the FBI in San Juan. The ship is supposed to on thefts over 10,000 dollars. They did not. I met a cruise agent from CruisesOnly, who I booked шге cruise through. I got no apologies and no compensation.

Our cruise was ruined as my wife was bonkers for the whole trip. Now the Cocaine smuggling (CM: he refers to Nov 17's drug bust). Guess they used our ring to get started.

The incident occurred during 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise (itinerary Sept 15-22) roundtrip from homeport Miami to Philipsburg (St Maarten, Sept 18), San Juan (Puerto Rico, Sept 19) and Nassau (Bahamas, Sept 21).

16 May 2018Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On May 16, 2018, a 37-year-old male crew (Michael Majaba, Filipino) was reported fell overboard. The incident occurred around 1 am, when the ship was en route from St Maarten to Puerto Rico, navigating southeast of St Thomas (USVI).

The liner started a search and rescue operation around 3 am. The USCG was notified around 4 am. Captain's official announcement to passengers was made around 7 am. The search operation was assisted by a USCG helicopter team, as well as by Carnival Glory and several smaller vessels in the area. In the afternoon on May 17, USCG ended the search. The man's body was not found.

The ship was on 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise" (itinerary May 12-19) roundtrip from homeport Miami to St Maarten, San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Nassau (Bahamas).