ms Europa accidents and incidents

16 August 2021Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On August 20, 2021, several major global media outlets reported that the 82-year-old Kai Wunsche is presumed dead after falling overboard the Hapag-Lloyd's ship MS Europa. The overboard occurred on August 16th, while the boat was navigating near Texel Island (North-Holland, The Netherlands).

The cruise ship was en route from Hamburg to Antwerpen, but the famous millionaire was reported missing before reaching Antwerp (Belgium). The shipowner Hapag-Lloyd Cruises confirmed the incident but commented that has no details on the circumstances around Kai Wunsche's disappearance.

The news followed media reports that on Aug 16th (Monday's afternoon) occurred an overboard accident involving an unknown man. The ship immediately turned around and started a search and rescue operation, assisted by the Dutch coastguard which dispatched several vessels to the area (5x boats, 1x helicopter, 1x aircraft). However, due to rough seas (5-m/16-ft waves), in the evening the search was called off.

Update: On the morning of August 24, the man's body was discovered on a beach on Terschelling Island (West Frisian Islands, Wadden Sea) in the northern Netherlands. There were no indications of a crime and the Dutch police closed the investigation.

Kai Wunsche (1939-2021) was the owner of Joop GmbH (1986-founded German luxury fashion brand JOOP!/clothing and cosmetics) and one of the owners of Wunsche Group (1934-founded group of companies specializing in foods, electronics, fashion clothing and cosmetics, e-commerce, services).

Besides "Joop!", Wunsche Group previously also owned the brands "CINQUE" and "Jean Pascale".

As of 2021, the company owned 9x brands/companies - HELLUX Lighting GmbH (Muller-Licht), MAX Power Products (batteries and energy storage), Globaltronics GmbH, LUNUX Lighting GmbH, Wunsche Fashion (trendwear), MONZ Handelsgesellschaft International (trading), DARIO Markenartikelvertrieb (furniture), Latupo GmbH (logistics and distribution), SIGMA System Audio-Visuell GmbH (Audio Affairs).

04 March 2010Propulsion / Power Loss

On March 4, 2010, due to engine problems (1 of all 4 diesel engines malfunctioned), 3 itinerary segments (part of the "Hapag Lloyd World Cruise 2010) were canceled.

The ship continued from Nice (France) directly to Singapore, where the defective engine was replaced. The revised 17-day itinerary (May 4-21) had no call ports along the route. As compensation, all passengers received EUR 7990 pp, plus airfares for the flight from Europe to Asia (Frankfurt-Singapore). The voyage was available for booking with all-inclusive deals and on balcony staterooms only (no single cabin rates).

07 September 2008Sea Pollution

On September 7, 2008, the ship was reported for water pollution at Katajanokka terminal (Helsinki, Finland). The accident happened when a bilge water channeling hose (connecting to a waste tank) broke loose from the berthed liner.

As a result, around 60 liters/ 16 gallons of high-pressure waste oil gushed from the hose, causing an oil spill. Due to clean-up works, the departure for St Petersburg (Russia) was delayed by ~30 min.