Passengers 'mutiny' as MSC cruise ship breaks down

Cruise passengers onboard the MSC Opera staged a mutiny after the ship broke down in the middle of the Baltic Sea.

Holidaymakers aboard the striken ship were forced to endure blackouts, food shortages and no running water or working toilets for almost three days.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the cruise liner set sail from Southampton on Saturday, May for a trip visiting Copenhagen, Helsinki and St Petersburg. But it ran into trouble in the Baltic Sea off Sweden on Saturday when the ship’s electricity – and attempts to restart the engines – failed.

The MSC Opera, with about 1,800 passengers and 200 crew members on board, was left stranded in darkness, with no running water or working toilets, before being towed to land in Sweden on Monday.

Retired Isle of Wight hotelier Mary Birch, said anxious passengers were placated with free alcohol.  “We stopped in the middle of the Baltic, nobody knew why, for about three hours. Then it came across the tannoy that the boat was experiencing some difficulties and then it stopped again for 12 hours, and then finally they got some tugs out to pull us in.

“The toilets were unusable and then they got them working and then they didn’t work again. There was no water. Food-wise, we’ve just been on rolls.

“The captain we haven’t seen, there was a bit of a mutiny [on Sunday night], everybody shouting for the captain, but he never appeared and then they decided to give us all free drink.”

An MSC Cruises spokesman said all passengers would receive a credit voucher for another ten-day cruise.
The company has now cancelled the ship’s next excursion, due to sail out of Southampton today, which will affect around 500 passengers.

MSC Cruises is set to deploy its first cruise liner in the Gulf from October, with the MSC Lirica being homeported in Abu Dhabi for a Gulf winter sailing season.