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09 April 2020 A long odyssey is the one that 210 Italians lived on board an MSC Cruises ship. Now after four months of sailing, the motor ship MSC Magnifica is preparing to disembark passengers in the French port of Marseille. Leaving Genoa on 5 January for a world tour, she was pushed back to Australia from where she only started making technical calls for the Coronavirus emergency. Among the 1600 passengers on the Panamanian ship there are 210 Italians, including the commander himself, Roberto Leotta. Frightened by the experience of 20 days of sailing alone, the Italian passengers would have expressed the fear of not being brought back to Italy but of being left in Marseille and therefore making a double quarantine, first in France and then in Italy, despite the fact that no one of passengers, as certified by the on-board doctor, have experienced symptoms from Covid-19.

The Senator of Fratelli d'Italia Nicola Calandrini also presented a parliamentary question on their question. "There is an unease, solicitations arrive from all sides, relatives of those waiting to return to Italy call us and especially seafarers call us. This is why I have tried to urge the Foreign Minister so that an overall assessment of the situation is made. and the exact numbers of those who still cannot return home are given. "

The MSC company assures, however, that there are no problems or tensions on board: "Many passengers, on the contrary, fear to get off and get so infected - they explain - Of course they will all get off and certainly will not be abandoned. Of course, being the Italian ports closed - they specify - they will be dropped off in Marseille where they are expected to be brought and from where they will be accompanied to the initial embarkation place ".

According to the company, no one was upset, indeed it seems that some passengers have already rebooked a new trip to visit the missed stops thanks to the discounts offered to them by the company, eager to remedy the damage. And who knows if they will be able to leave within the year.