Military attacks in the Red Sea region are forcing cruise lines to move ships out of the area.
Attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants on ships in the Red Sea led to the action, which impacts cruises from South Africa and the United Arab Emirates to Europe, Seatrade Cruise News reports.
A variety of news publications say cruise lines have had to pull ships from the Red Sea region and move them to safer areas. It’s an understandable safety move that has to be made, but it’s a huge disappointment to travellers who were hoping to visit some parts of the Middle East on their cruise holiday.
Several news sites report that MSC announced they are cancelling three Grand Voyage sailings in April to avoid cruising through the Red Sea.
The company said ongoing attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea region forced it to cancel a 24-night cruise from Durban, South Africa, to Genoa, Dubai to Genoa, and Dubai to Southampton.
The three ships (Splendida, Opera, and Virtuosa) will transfer directly to Europe without any passengers onboard. Instead of transiting through the Red Sea, the ships will sail around the west coast of Africa, Cruise Week said.
Cruise Week also reports that Silversea’s Silver Moon was supposed to visit Muscat, Oman this week but instead was docking in Athens.
In a statement, MSC said, "The safety of passengers and crew is the number one priority and as there was no viable alternative itinerary, the Company has regrettably had to cancel the voyages. The three ships will transfer directly to Europe without any passengers on board and avoid transiting through the Red Sea. Instead, they will sail around the west coast of Africa with no ports of call on their journeys to their respective European homeports for the summer 2024 season.
"All passengers booked on the three repositioning cruises have been, or are in the process of being, contacted directly or through their travel agent and can transfer their booking to a future Grand Voyage of a similar duration for free. Alternatively, affected passengers can rebook to any other cruise in the company’s global network, with either a partial refund or additional payment for the difference in price of the original booking, or receive a full refund with no cancellation fee."
The Red Sea is a crucial shipping route that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal. But Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have recently launched attacks on merchant ships.
The U.S. military on the weekend said it sunk three boats waging an attack on a container ship in the Red Sea.
