Mein Schiff 6 accidents and incidents

14 October 2022Crew / Passenger Deaths

In the early hours of October 14, 2022, while navigating in the Aegean Sea (en route from Crete Island to Turkey) the ship reported a fatal accident involving a female passenger who fell overboard (four decks down) from her cabin's balcony onto a lifeboat.

Reportedly, at ~1 am local time (~22:00 UTC) the woman fell from Deck 10 (Perle) down to Deck 6 (Boje). She was traveling with her husband who immediately informed the Reception Desk's staff.

The body was offloaded in Antalya (Turkey) on Oct 15th, where forensic medicine specialists performed an autopsy.

The incident occurred at the end of the 7-day Eastern Mediterranean voyage (themed "Stliches Mittelmeer Mit Kreta"/itinerary Oct 8-15, roundtrip from Antalya) visiting destinations in Turkey (Bodrum) and Greece (Mykonos Island, Piraeus-Athens, and Heraklion Crete).

07 February 2021Structural and Technical Issues

On January 27, 2021, the ship arrived from Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain) to Port Wilhelmshaven (Germany) to enter into wet-dock for machinery/engine repairs.

On February 7, 2021, a new crankshaft (length 7 m/23 ft, weight 12 tons) was delivered, lifted by cranes and (through a hatch in the hull) brought into the engine room. The installation was handled by the local family-owned company Turbo-Technik GmbH und Co KG.

December 2020Structural and Technical Issues

In early-December 2020 TUI announced that Schiff 1 will replace Schiff 6 in the Canary Islands.

Schiff 1 was rescheduled for Schiff 6's Canaries program starting on December 17. Reportedly, Schiff 6 was returning to Germany for engine repairs.

Mein Schiff 1 was previously scheduled to restart passenger shipping operations on March 19, 2021, in the Caribbean (leaving roundtrip from homeport La Romana, Dominican Republic). Mein Schiff 6 was scheduled to restart voyages in the Canaries on December 17 (roundtrip from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria).

28 September 2020Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On September 28, 2020, the Greek coastguard announced that on the first cruise ship to dock in Greece (following the country's Coronavirus lockdown in March) a total of 12 crew have tested positive for COVID-19.

TUI's Schiff 6 was carrying a total of 922 passengers plus 666 crew when moored off Milos Island (Aegean Sea). The positive results surfaced after 150 assistant staff were tested for the virus. The 12 infected plus 24 other (Contact Group 1) crew were immediately quarantined onboard.

Schiff 6 departed from its homeport Heraklion (Crete) on Sept 27 en route to Piraeus-Athens. All passengers had a clean bill of health prior departure. None of the 12 infected experienced flu-like symptoms prior to the testing and their first results were negative.

On Sept 28, TUI announced that additional testing of the 12 crew was conducted (at a land-based facility) and that 6 tests returned negative while the results for the other 6 tests are still pending. TUI assumed that the positive tests were probably incorrect. TUI's official statement (in Hamburg, Germany) said: "On Monday (Sept 28) morning we received positive test results from an external laboratory for twelve crew members of Mein Schiff 6. The entire crew had not seen anything in the last 14 days, none of the twelve crew members has symptoms. As part of the early warning system, which is a key component of TUI Cruises' health and hygiene concept, the crew is regularly tested for COVID-19."

Onboard operations continued normally as no passengers were affected. The ship arrived and docked in Port Piraeus on Sept 29. On September 30, following two more crew tests, TUI Cruises announced that Schiff 6's 12 crew now tested negative and none of them had symptoms. The liner left Piraeus on Sept 30, en route to Corfu.

Between September 13 and November 7, 2020, TUI Schiff 6 ship was deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean (Greece) for 7-night roundtrips from homeport Heraklion (Crete) to Piraeus-Athens and Kerkyra (Corfu Island). This service was suspended after Greece enforced lockdown (effective on Nov 7) to prevent spreading the Coronavirus. The last voyage was a cruise to nowhere (November 8-14) roundtrip from Heraklion and without any call ports/shore excursions.