A crew member aboard the cruise ship MSC Virtuosa required urgent medical attention and was evacuated shortly after the vessel departed from Hamburg, Germany. MSC Virtuosa, which had 6,300 passengers on board and had made 14 calls to Hamburg previously, left the Cruise Center Steinwerder around 9 p.m. on Sunday evening en route to Zeebrugge, Belgium.
However, while sailing on the Elbe River, a medical emergency alarm was sounded, indicating that a crew member required immediate medical assistance. The Italian captain of the 19-deck high "Virtuosa" promptly ordered the ship to turn back to Hamburg at full speed. By 10 p.m., the ship had returned in front of the Cruise Center, where an ambulance was waiting to transport the crew member to a nearby clinic.
The nature of the medical emergency and the identity of the crew member were not disclosed by the cruise company. Following the medical evacuation, the ship had to delay its departure from the port of Hamburg until around 3:30 a.m. due to increased traffic on the Elbe River.
Back in port in HAM. I hope the crew member will be okay. #MSCVirtuosa pic.twitter.com/EggFopibhs
— Mary F (@Fozzie_M) April 16, 2023
Currently, MSC Virtuosa is spending a day at sea in the North Sea. This was the ship's last visit to Hamburg during the 2022/23 winter season, as it regularly docked there on Sundays. In the upcoming summer of 2023, MSC Virtuosa will be stationed in Southampton, southern England.
