A Cruise Ship Sat in Miami for Days and Nobody Will Say Why

The U.S. Coast Guard detained the cruise ship MSC Poesia at PortMiami on Sunday, November 1, during what the agency called an expanded examination. The vessel had been due to depart that afternoon on an 11-night Caribbean itinerary, but it stayed alongside with passengers aboard while inspectors reviewed its compliance with maritime rules.

By Tuesday, MSC Cruises had given up on the sailing. The line said a regulatory matter had arisen before departure and could not be resolved in time, so the voyage was cancelled. Passengers are being offered full refunds and help getting home, and they were allowed to stay on the ship until noon on Thursday, November 5, while they arranged other travel.

The cancelled trip would have called at Jamaica, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras and Belize before returning to Miami on November 12. What is missing is the reason. The Coast Guard has not said what prompted the expanded examination or named any deficiency, and MSC has not explained what the regulatory matter was. Foreign-flagged ships that call at U.S. ports are routinely examined under the port state control program, and serious deficiencies can keep a vessel in port until they are corrected.

The 2008-built, Panama-flagged Poesia carries up to 3,223 passengers and about 1,039 crew, and had a major refurbishment earlier this year. Nothing suggests that work is linked to the detention. Its next scheduled departure, a 10-night Caribbean cruise on November 12, had not been changed as of the latest reports, though no release date for the ship had been announced.

Sources: gCaptain