- The landing of the “Magnifica MSC” started on Monday in Marseille, in compliance with the rules in force since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
- French passengers on the "Costa Deliziosa", refused in Marseille, can disembark in Barcelona and join Montpellier by bus.
- The prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône explains that it was "materially impossible" to organize the two landings at the same time.
“For the passengers of these two liners, the story ends well. Jean-François Suhas, president of the Marseille Cruise club, is relieved. This Monday, French passengers of the Costa Deliziosa, whose disembarkation in Marseille was prohibited by the prefecture, were able to disembark in Barcelona. They will be repatriated to Montpellier by bus, before returning to their homes. Those of the MSC Magnifica are leaving the ship: the 692 French travelers have been disembarking since Monday morning and until Tuesday, with 358 Germans, 160 Italians, 107 Spaniards and 144 Swiss.
"No passenger or any of the 927 crew members has symptoms of the Covid-19," says MSC Cruises. No one was infected on board the Deliziosa either , according to Costa Cruises. How to explain this difference in treatment between the two ships?
The prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône explains this arbitration at 20 Minutes : "The departments concerned must manage this week both the disembarkation of the MSC Magnifica and the disembarkation of crew members of five ships already stationed at the port, including two ships from the company Costa. According to a spokesperson, it was "materially impossible" to manage the landing of the Deliziosa in addition .
Repatriation, "not a usual activity"
Finally, the Magnifica , which was to complete its round-the-world trip to Marseille from the start, had made its request for a waiver before the Deliziosa , which will finish its route in Genoa. The arrival of the Magnifica was validated at the beginning of April by the prefecture, under two conditions: "that the health situation remains unchanged on board and that MSC provide a landing plan, which was finalized last week. "
This landing takes place under very strict security conditions, it is said at the Grand Maritime Port of Marseille (GPMM). "Repatriation is not a usual activity, it has nothing to do with a normal cruise stopover," confides a source within the GPMM. A prefectural decree strictly regulates all stopovers in the port. This text, signed by Pierre Dartout on April 6, requires, for example, sailors who must access the dock to moor the boat to stay "within ten meters around the berth of the ship. "
"We were good students in Marseille"
For Jean-François Suhas, president of the Marseille Provence Cruise Club, “everything is done according to the rules of the art. But he regrets that the French passengers of the Costa Deliziosa were also unable to disembark in Marseille, where many of them had embarked. "This landing would have overworked the port," he concedes. But since there is no ferry at the moment, I think it was possible. Since March 15, six cruise ships have docked in Marseille. They "already mobilize very strongly the security forces and the health authorities", nuances the prefecture.
#CostaDeliziosa FR passengers were able to benefit from 2 options: disembark today in Barcelona and return to France through transfers organized by the French authorities for @montpellier_ or continue on board until Genoa and benefit from the transport already planned.
- Costa Cruises (@costacroisieres) April 20, 2020"We were very good students in Marseille and overall in France," says Jean-François Suhas. For him, the problem is international:
Many countries have sat down to international laws, which allow a state to prohibit a boat from docking, but only on condition of treating the sick on board. There is perhaps in the collective unconscious this idea that epidemics arrive by boats ... "
No other cruise ship arrival is expected in the coming days in Marseille or elsewhere in France. "These two liners were the last still at sea, with a ship that was ending its world tour in the United States," concludes Jean-François Suhas, who believes that the sector has "paid a heavy price" to the epidemic. The coronavirus caused at least 21 deaths aboard the Ruby Princess , a dozen victims on the Diamond Princess , four dead on board the Zaandam and two on board the Coral Princess .
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