A passenger aboard MSC Cruises’ 181,541-gross-ton MSC Virtuosa tragically misplaced her life after falling overboard close to the Channel Islands within the English Channel early Saturday morning, October 12, 2024.
The lady, reported to be in her 20s, fell into the ocean after midnight because the cruise ship was crusing between the Channel Islands and Southampton, England. In line with rescue officers, the cruise ship despatched a misery name at 2 a.m.
The incident, closest to mainland France’s Normandy area, prompted a right away and intensive rescue operation involving each sea and air items from the French navy helicopter Rescue Beligou Yankee and a French rescue vessel from Jobourg Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC).
A aircraft from the Channel Islands Air Search in Guernsey, England, positioned off the coast of Normandy, was additionally deployed.
Stated Channel Islands Air Search on its Fb web page, “[We] have been known as out early this morning and requested to help Joburg MRCC within the seek for an individual overboard from the MSC Virtuosa cruise ship, north of Les Casquets.”
The volunteer search group stated it arrived on the scene at 2:21 a.m. native time, the place a search utilizing infrared cameras started. By 2:33 a.m., Jobourg MRCC reported that the girl had been positioned and pulled from the water by the French navy.
Rescue Beligou Yankee flew the passenger to a hospital in Tourlaville, Normandy, the place she was pronounced lifeless.
Learn Additionally: What Occurs Throughout a Cruise Ship Overboard Alarm?
A spokesperson from MSC Cruises confirmed the incident: “A visitor on board MSC Virtuosa went overboard on 12 October, whereas the ship was crusing to Southampton.”
“The physique was later recovered with the involvement of the authorities. We’re deeply saddened by this tragic occasion, and our ideas are with the household throughout this tough time,” the assertion continued.
“Out of respect for his or her privateness, we is not going to be offering additional particulars,” it concluded.
The precise circumstances main as much as the autumn stay below investigation. Officers are reviewing surveillance footage from the ship and talking with potential witnesses.
Experiences within the Every day File point out passengers aboard MSC Virtuosa have been knowledgeable of the scenario by a “man overboard” alert at 2 a.m., and witnesses reported spotlights getting used to look the waters. The cruise line has assured all crucial steps are being taken to assist the deceased’s household.
MSC Overboards
MSC Virtuosa was coming back from a 14-night roundtrip Northern Europe voyage. It final visited Lisbon, Portugal, on October 9, after calling throughout seven ports in Spain. After the girl’s physique was retrieved, the ship continued to Southampton, the place it concluded its voyage on October 12, 2024.
Over the previous 12 months, MSC Cruises has skilled a number of incidents involving passengers and crew members going overboard. In June 2024, a crew member tragically went overboard from the MSC Musica whereas the ship was crusing within the Mediterranean.
Simply earlier than that incident, a passenger in Norway went overboard from MSC Euribia. The passenger was rescued by a helicopter and dropped at a hospital.
That was the second overboard prevalence for the 6,300-passenger ship in 3 months, with a 23-year-old Scottish passenger falling overboard in March 2024. The visitor went lacking whereas crusing to Hamburg, Germany.
And in February 2024, an American passenger went overboard from MSC World Europa whereas the ship was docked in Malta for a name.
Cruise Hive’s ideas are with everybody affected by the horrific incident aboard MSC Virtuosa throughout this tough time.
