Cruise ship carrying almost 9000 marooned in Mediterranean after electrical failure

 CIVITAVECCHIA - The MSC Cruises ‘World Europa’ cruise ship experienced an electrical failure approximately 8 nautical miles off the island of Ponza, reports Il Fatto Quotidiano.

 On a tour with stops in Italy, Malta, Spain, and France, it departed Genoa bound for Naples, where it was due to arrive around 11:00 Monday morning, with 8585 people on board: 6496 passengers and 2089 crew members. The situation aboard the ship was “calm and under control,” the Coast Guard said.

 At 7:25 a.m., the crew notified the Coast Guard's National Maritime Rescue Coordination Center that they had encountered an electrical problem with the engines. The Coast Guard stated that “weather and sea conditions are favorable and essential passenger services continued to be provided by the onboard generators.”

 Two tugboats departed from the ports of Gioia Tauro and Naples to assist the cruise ship and safely bring it to the port of Naples. Specialized technicians from the company were also on their way to the vessel to perform the necessary onboard checks to resolve the problem.

After the intervention of specialised technicians, the vessel was restarted “with the propulsion system partially restored” and began sailing towards Naples. The company made this known in the early afternoon, stressing that “an in-depth technical check will be carried out as soon as the ship has reached its scheduled port of call”. The group reiterated that “all services on board continue to operate normally and there are no conditions that compromise the safety of guests or crew.”

 As a precaution, the Ponza Coast Guard patrol boat CP 308 and the Naples Coast Guard patrol boat CP 280 were dispatched to the area, and a Coast Guard AW 139-Nemo helicopter also performed a flyover. 

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