The Taiwanese government has arranged special flights to bring more than 1,800 Taiwanese passengers home after an MSC cruise ship broke down in Naha in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture.
The 2019-built ship, MSC Bellissima, which has 2,259 passenger cabins, operates a four-night cruise between Keelung, Taiwan and Naha. The ship is said to be one of the largest cruise vessels in Asia.
MSC Bellissima suffered engine trouble on 7 December, three days after picking up the passengers in Keelung. As the ship remained immobile in Tomari terminal in Naha, the passengers were stranded as MSC Bellissima could not return to Keelung on 8 December as scheduled.
On learning of the situation, Taiwan’s Ministry of Transport and Communications asked the Maritime Port Bureau, Taiwan Tourism Administration and Civil Aviation Administration to help bring the Taiwanese passengers home. Accordingly, special flights from Taiwanese carriers EVA Airways and China Airlines were coordinated to fly the Taiwanese passengers home.
There were also around 2,500 passengers of other nationalities on MSC Bellissima. MSC Cruises’ website states that MSC Bellissima is next due to pick up passengers in Keelung tomorrow (10 December), but the ship’s delay affected passengers originally due to board the vessel on 8 December.
Local media reports, quoting the stranded passengers, said that they crowded the main hall of MSC Bellissima after the ship stalled.
MSC Cruises said it has chartered flights to fly all remaining passengers out of Naha, targeting to return all passengers by 12 December. The company added that it has flown a team of engineers to Naha to repair MSC Bellissima at the soonest.
On top of a 50% discount on the fare paid, up to US$200 will be given to passengers traveling within Japan and a maximum of US$400 will be paid to passengers who travel out of Japan. Each passenger is also given a US$75 voucher that can be used on any subsequent trip on MSC Cruises.