Evacuation of passengers and crew is underway, after the cruise ship Viking Sky experienced engine failure today, March 23, 2019. Some 1300 passengers and crew are to be evacuated, by helicopters and if possible, by SAR boats in heavy storm conditions. The vessel is currently one kilometer off the coast of Farstad, Norway. According to the local media, this is one of the worst places to have problems due to strong wind, waves and hundreds of reefs.

A fire broke out today March 21, 2019, aboard the cruise ship Carnival Triumph during the dry dock refurbishment in Cadiz, Spain. According to the reports hundreds of workers who were inside the ship were evacuated after a small fire broke out on deck 4 of the bow-starboard side. The fire started in the early afternoon when welding works were being carried out. Navantia shipyard fire crews responded to the emergency and put down the fire.

The cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway operated by Norwegian Cruise Line has failed the recent USPH inspection. The United States Public Health inspectors conducted an unannounced sanitation inspection on March 10, 2019, while the cruise ship was docked in New Orleans, Louisiana. After finding numerous violations the ship received a failing score of 84 points (score of 85 or below means the ship has failed the inspection). 

MSC Divina crew member has contacted Crew Center saying that no one from the ship’s onboard personnel was allowed to go ashore when the vessel docked in New York on March 17. The reason for this decision by the captain is because one crew member failed to report back to the ship while Divina was docked in Miami on March 14. According to our source, the crew member who didn’t return to the ship was Indian national working as a Pool boy. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is searching for a cruise ship crew member who reportedly came to the United States but failed to board the vessel reports WAFB Channel 9. The crew member wanted by the U.S.

We are sad to report that a crew member has passed away on the Princess Cruises ship Island Princess. According to our source, the crew member passed away on island Princess while the vessel was anchored in George Town, Grand Cayman harbour on March 8, 2019. No details were released of the reasons of passing or the identity of the crew member. The deceased crew member was transferred from the ship to shore by a tender boat and then handed over to the Authorities in Grand Cayman.

A crew member send us an email expressing his frustration about the onboard internet prices and low bandwidth on Costa Cruises ships. The crew member says “Costa Cruise is making huge revenue with the internet for the crew. The crew in Costa is paying 7 cents per minute for extremely slow internet. In all the other companies there are very convenient internet packages for the crew. Costa does not want to renounce to the revenue from the crew.  A Strike needs to be organized soon!”

The cruise ship Norwegian Escape was hit by a strong gust of wind, estimated at 100 knots, on Sunday, March 3, 2019, which caused the ship to tilt extremely to the port side.

Last year Filipino seafarers working on foreign ocean vessels sent home a record amount of 6.14 billion U.S. Dollars through the banking system. This amount includes Filipino seamen transfers working on container cargo ships, bulk carriers, cruise ships, tankers, general cargo ships, and pure car carriers sailing around the globe.

Starting from March 31, 2019, the daily service charges will be mandatory on all MSC cruise ships, and passengers will no longer be able to make cancelation at the end of the cruise.