As per Cruise Radio’s report, a staff member allegedly fell overboard from the MSC Musica which was navigating from Italy last Monday evening. The incident supposedly occurred in the Mediterranean Sea, en route from Civitavecchia to Genoa.
Cruise Radio does not present any direct witnesses, surveillance footage, or MSC officials as sources confirming that the MSC crew member intentionally went overboard. The precise timing of the incident and the start of the search operation remain unspecified.
Approximately two days later, Cruise Radio shared a statement from MSC Cruises indicating that they promptly responded to the situation by initiating their “man overboard procedure.” However, no specifics were disclosed about the incident, including the circumstances leading to the overboard event or the timing of the response and search efforts.
An image of the Automatic Information System (AIS) data, illustrating the course of MSC Musica during the search operation for their missing crew member, was published by Cruise Radio.
The AIS data displays MSC Musica executing two turns before continuing toward Genoa. It appears that the ship did not conduct an extensive search for the absent crew member.
MSC informed Cruise Radio on Wednesday that a search and rescue mission was underway with the assistance of local authorities, involving a rescue helicopter and multiple patrol vessels. The search operation is reported to be ongoing as of the current moment.
It would be highly uncommon for the Italian coast guard to continue search operations 36 hours after the crew member went overboard, as MSC and Cruise Radio have suggested.
Typically, when a ship employee falls overboard, it is often speculated that they intentionally jumped. Crew members, facing long hours, strenuous tasks, extended time away from loved ones, and lacking access to onboard psychological support, may feel compelled to end their lives unlike passengers who usually fall overboard due to alcohol consumption.
This marks the 8th individual overboard from an MSC cruise liner in the past seven months. In our opinion, MSC has not been consistently swift in executing search and rescue operations for overboard individuals in the past incidents.
In a recent event, a passenger went overboard from MSC Euribia near Norway. MSC initiated search efforts approximately fifteen minutes after the incident, marking one of their quickest responses to such an incident.
On March 15, 2024, a 23-year-old passenger from Scotland, Liam Brody Wilkie Jones, went overboard from MSC Euribia. His family expressed frustration on Facebook over the lack of communication from the cruise line and the delayed announcement on the ship. It was reported that no search and rescue efforts were promptly initiated by the MSC cruise ship.
On February 4, 2024, a passenger fell off the MSC Bellissima during a voyage from Taiwan to Okinawa. The individual was rescued, taken to a hospital, and received medical treatment, reportedly in good condition.
On December 30, 2023, another passenger went overboard from the MSC Preziosa after departing from Santos towards New Year’s Eve festivities in Rio de Janeiro.
During a transatlantic cruise to Brazil on December 15, 2023, a passenger fell overboard from the MSC Armonia. Data from AIS tracking services suggests that the ship did not alter its course or initiate a search for the individual in the water.
Another crew member went overboard from the MSC Seascape on an undisclosed date.
in oceanic regions near Puerto Rico on the 15th of November, 2023. MSC faced a delay of multiple hours in the quest for its crew member who went overboard, and subsequently postponed informing the family of the absent crew member.
There is no evidence that the MSC Musica is equipped with an advanced man overboard (MOB) system which could automatically perceive, using motion detection, radar, and infra-red technology, when an individual falls overboard and could track the individual in the water even during nighttime. Without such a system, the task of locating a person in the water, especially during the night, becomes extremely challenging.
Back in 2017, it was disclosed that MSC Cruises had revealed the installation of a cutting-edge man overboard system on the MSC Meraviglia and had intentions to deploy equivalent systems throughout its collection of cruise vessels.
MSC Cruises stated that they devised a “smart video capturing and analysis system” in partnership with “security technology specialists, Bosch and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.” The Switzerland-based cruise operator declared that they had trialed the new man overboard system on the company’s newest vessel which premiered in June of 2017. MSC communicated that “after more than 25,000 hours of video examination, extensive software assessments, and ongoing algorithmic enhancements, the system has achieved a verified accuracy rating of 97%.”
The MOB data and visuals undergo evaluation by two segregated and autonomous image processing systems which significantly lessen false alarms. “Upon activation of the alert in the event of a person falling overboard, an audible signal and illumination will alert the vessel’s security officer, stationed in a central security room, who can promptly recover and review the visuals and data and instantly notify the bridge to initiate rescue measures,” in accordance with Seatrade Cruise News. MSC Cruises announced MSC Meraviglia as “equipped with an integrated video monitoring system to enhance security surveillance on board the vessel and which will facilitate, amongst other utilities, the quickest response in the improbable instance of a person or object falling overboard.”
In July of 2019, a passenger in her forties fell overboard from the MSC Meraviglia yet was promptly rescued subsequent to the automatic MOB alerting the crew of her fall.
Regrettably, it seems that no other MSC ships have been outfitted with the lifesaving MOB system. Twenty-seven individuals have plunged overboard from MSC cruise ships since 2006.
This is the 412th individual to have gone overboard since 2000, as per findings from Dr. Ross Klein who upholds the authoritative list of cruise ship overboards.
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Image credit: MSC Musica – Bahnfrend – CC BY-SA 3.0 commons / wikimedia; MSC Musica AIS data – Cruise Radio.
