The cruise ship MSC Fantasia with 4,000 passengers and crew onboard changed its course to the bay of Souda near Chania in Crete in the early hours of Saturday. The cruise ship departed from Haifa, Israel and was originally scheduled to arrive in Iraklion. Cruise company says the reason for changing the course was due to bad weather and one passenger dead of heart attack and the body needed to be send for autopsy.

However Greek newspapers reports indicate that the cruise had another problem. The Greek newspaper "To Vima" reported that there was information on board of suspicious passengers or bomb threat. An official statement of the Coast Guard initially was not available. Satellite images show the ship on Saturday morning actually in Souda Bay, where Greek and American Navy is stationed.