The U.S. Coast Guard detained the cruise ship MSC Poesia in Miami this week, forcing MSC Cruises to cancel an 11-night Caribbean voyage with more than 2,000 people already aboard.
The Coast Guard announced the detention on Nov. 3, citing deficiencies with systems on the ship. Capt. Frank Florio, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami, said in a statement that the agency could not discuss specifics of an ongoing Port State Control Examination but confirmed it had “identified deficiencies with systems on board the vessel that we are addressing with MSC.”
The ship will stay detained in Miami until the problems are fixed and it is cleared to depart, the Coast Guard said.
MSC Poesia had been scheduled to leave Miami on Nov. 1 and return Nov. 12, with stops in Jamaica, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras and Belize, according to CruiseMapper.
“We have made the difficult decision to cancel the current sailing,” an MSC Cruises spokesperson said. “We recognize how disappointing and frustrating this news is for our guests, and we sincerely apologize for the disruption to their holiday.”
The spokesperson said a “regulatory matter” arose before departure that the company could not resolve in time. “Guests will receive a full refund of their cruise fare, and we are providing support to assist with their journey home,” the spokesperson said.
Why This Is Unusual
The Coast Guard’s Port State Control program routinely inspects foreign-flagged commercial vessels in U.S. ports to check compliance with safety, security and environmental standards. When it finds substantial noncompliance, it can detain a ship until the issues are corrected.
Alex Perez, a maritime attorney at the Miami firm Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, said it is very rare for a ship carrying thousands of passengers to be detained outright rather than simply cited. “The fact that this cruise ship was detained with passengers on board when [it was] about to embark on its voyage tells you the Coast Guard found something significant enough to warrant a detention,” Perez said.
Perez noted the Coast Guard’s authority applies regardless of a ship’s flag. “A lot of cruise ships are foreign-flagged. That doesn’t change the Coast Guard’s authority over them,” he said.
No Group Lawsuits Allowed
Beyond the lost vacation, passengers face extra costs for airfare, lodging and missed paid time off. Perez said affected travelers can file individual claims, but cruise ticket contracts bar passengers from banding together in class-action lawsuits. Under MSC’s USA Booking Conditions, passengers waive the right to join group litigation — a term standard across major cruise lines.
“Cruise ship contracts prohibit class actions,” Perez said. “So in a case like this … they cannot do class actions to group themselves together and make it easier for the passenger to get relief.”
Passengers React
Travelers took to online forums to describe the confusion. “We have been on board the MSC Poesia since 28 September,” one Reddit user wrote. “During dinner, we noticed we had not left the harbor at the given time.” The same passenger added, “Although we’re disappointed that the last part of our extended back-to-back cruise was canceled, we appreciate the compensation MSC has offered and the practical help they’re providing to get us home.”
“Must have been a heck of an error for [the] Coast Guard to keep them from sailing. I assume someone will spill the beans on what the problem was eventually.”
As of this report, the specific deficiencies that triggered the detention had not been disclosed.
