MSC Melody Evades Pirate Attack

MSC Cruises reports that MSC Melody successfully evaded an attack by pirates Saturday evening (April 25, 2009) at approximately 7:35pm GMT (3:35pm eastern time in the US).

MSC said that when the ship came under attack, it initiated avoidance procedures and quickly escaped the pirates. They characterized the encounter as being "relatively brief." There were no injuries to the approximately 1500 passengers and crew, and damage to the ship was "not significant." The line immediately informed the Italian government foreign office, the Maritime Security Center in London and the Coordination Center for Security in Dubai.

The line does confirm that they came under automatic weapon fire from the small boat, and confirms the security force aboard MSC Melody repelled the pirates with fire hoses and evasive maneuvering by the bridge, but does not confirm that the ship's security forces returned the pirates' fire.

The attack came when MSC Melody was approximately 200 miles north of Port Victoria in the Seychelles and almost 700 miles off the Somali coast. As a precaution, a military vessel from the international security forces in the region is escorting MSC Melody as it continues on its scheduled itinerary to its next port of Aqaba, Jordan. Its published schedule shows it due to arrive there on Saturday.

MSC Melody is on a 21-day repositioning voyage that is taking it from South Africa to the Mediterranean which necessitates it travel through the area. It was sailing a revised routing at the suggestion of the International Maritime Organization to avoid the area where pirates were known to be operating. The revised itinerary, reported in Cruise News Daily on April 17, took MSC Melody about 400 miles off its planned itinerary and caused several changes in its ports of call to accommodate the longer distance. This indicates the expanding scope of the pirate operations in the Indian Ocean.

Additional elements of the story will appear in the April 27 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Last updated April 26, 10:56pm


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American West Steamboat Fined

The AP reports American West Steamboat Company was fined $50,000 for a grounding incident in Alaska during May of 2007.

There was a small amount of oil released when the ship struck a charted by while piloted by an inexperienced officer, but the potential for a much larger release was significant according to the prosecutor.

American West is no longer operating, and its parent Ambassadors International, which is struggling financially, is trying to sell the line or the assets.

Carnival Dream Construction Continues

Carnival Dream is under construction at the Fincantieri yard at Monfalcone, Italy. Delivery is less than 5-months away, and we have construction photos, taken last week, on the Cruise News Daily website.

MSC Adds Loyalty Benefits

MSC Cruises is adding onboard benefits to their loyalty program, varying by the number of cruises taken. The new benefits include dinner in the ship's specialty restaurant, complimentary spa services and complimentary laundry services.

As described in the Cruise News Daily article, the higher levels of the program are easily attainable, in most instances after only two 7-night cruises. Details were in the April 24 edition of CND.

updated Apr 24, 2009 - 8pm

New Home for Independence of the Seas

Royal Caribbean International announced today that the 158,000-ton Independence of the Seas will be homeported at Southampton year round beginning in 2010. This will be the first time Royal Caribbean has ever homeported a ship year round in the UK.

The winter program from Southampton will be 11- to 18-day round trip cruises to warm-weather destinations such as the Mediterranean (as far east as Italy) and the Canary Islands.

Details appeared in the April 23 edition of Cruise News Daily.