A 72-year-old U.S. passenger died yesterday after falling from a passenger ship into the Grand Harbour in Valletta, Malta, according to the local press in Malta.
The incident happened at about 5 P.M. on February 14, 2024 when the cruise ship was docked at the Grand Harbour in Valletta. Maltese police said that “preliminary investigations revealed that the victim, who was a passenger on the same ship, fell into the sea.”
The man was provided first aid by a medical team while an ambulance took him to a local hospital for further medical treatment. The man was certified dead a short time later.
The press in Malta did not mention the name of the cruise ship, but several sources identify the ship as the MSC World Europa. CruiseMapper reports that “according to Port Valletta’s schedule, the only cruise liner visiting on February 14th was the MSC World Europa.” Dr. Ross Klein’s site Cruise Junkie also identifies this particular MSC cruise ship. Doug Parker’s Cruise Radio mentions the MSC World Europa as well.
Unless I am missing something, there have been no accounts I have seen from other passengers of this latest overboard via Twitter or Facebook.
There have been four other people who have gone overboard in the last three months from MSC cruise ships. The last person (a passenger) overboard from a cruise ship which we reported on involved the MSC Preziosa on December 31, 2023.
Since then, on February 4th, a passenger fell off the MSC Bellissima cruise ship traveling from Taiwan to Okinawa. According to the Taiwan News, the passenger was located, pulled from the water and then rushed to a hospital, where he was reported to be in good condition following medical treatment.
A passenger went overboard from the MSC Armonia during a transatlantic cruise to Brazil on December 15, 2023 and a crew member went overboard from the MSC Seascape in waters off of Puerto Rico on November 15, 2023.
We organized a fundraiser to help the MSC crew member’s surviving mother and two sisters:
This latest overboard brings the total number of crew and guests overboard from MSC cruise ships to five in just the last three months. One passenger died from the fall, one survived and recovered, and two guests and one crew member disappeared in the water.
There have been 404 people who have gone overboard from a cruise ship or ferry since year 2000, according to cruise expert Dr. Ross Klein.
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Image credit: MSC World Europa – Didier Duforest – CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; MSC Bellissima – Hashar CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; MSC Preziosa – Harry Garland – CC0 commons / wikimedia via Flickr; MSC Armonia – Wolfgang Manousek CC BY 2.0 commons / wikimedia; MSC Seascape – Crew Center .