A 25-year-old French cruise passenger in urgent need of medical treatment has been medevaced by the Coast Guard rescue crew from the MSC Cruises' ship MSC Grandiosa.
The liner was located ~20 nautical miles off the coast of Sant'Antioco Island, southwestern Sardinia, sailing a 7-night Mediterranean voyage towards Malta when the medevac took place.
Grandiosa departed from Genoa, Milan, Italy on April 11. Ports of call included Civitavecchia-Rome, Italy (April 12), Palermo, Sicily Italy (April 13), Valletta, Malta (April 14), Barcelona, Spain (April 16), Marseille, France (April 17). The ship was scheduled to arrive in Genoa, Milan, Italy on April 18.
The man was suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding and had to be hospitalized.
Cagliari's Port Authority, having received the request, dispatched a Sar helicopter of the 4th Decimomannu Coast Guard Section.
In order to speed up the operations, MSC Grandiosa sailed closer to the coast, heading to Canale di San Pietro, where the helicopter reached her. The airlift was risky due to the strong gusts of wind.
The 25-year-old patient was transported to Brotzu and hospitalized.
For more MSC Grandiosa incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.