Spain has introduced the deportation of over 60 friends that have been from the MSC Armonia cruise ship after they weren’t allowed to disembark in Barcelona because of false visas on April 2, 2024.
Visa Discrepancies Result in Deportation of Cruise Passengers
Happening a cruise generally is a enjoyable and thrilling strategy to vacation; nevertheless, you’ll want to make sure your whole documentation is so as earlier than you set sail. It’s one thing {that a} group of 69 friends onboard MSC Armonia thought they did or didn’t do after they boarded the cruise ship for his or her 16-night Grand Voyage cruise on March 17, 2024.
Upon arrival in Barcelona, the third European cease on the voyage after Tenerife and Malaga, 69 Bolivian friends aboard the MSC Armonia have been barred from leaving the ship. Spanish officers recognized their Schengen visas as counterfeit. Now, the Spanish authorities has determined that 65 friends might be deported from Spain, and flown again to Bolivia.
Solely a household of three siblings and the underage daughter of one of many siblings might be allowed to remain in Spain as they’ve household connections within the nation. MSC Armonia sailed from Barcelona a day later than scheduled, whereas the 69 Bolivians have been accommodated onboard one other MSC Cruise ship.
As a result of resolution from the Spanish authorities to deport the 65 passengers, MSC Cruises might be paying for the flight, which can depart on April 11, 2024. Whereas unlucky for the friends onboard, the difficulty stays an costly mistake by the cruise line, which may have been prevented.
MSC Cruises Fails to Carry out Correct Visa Checks
MSC Cruises has acknowledged that the documentation supplied by the Bolivian passengers appeared reliable upon boarding in Brazil. The cruise line has been collaborating with Spanish authorities to deal with the scenario, which has raised issues over doable visa fraud, prompting investigations by Spain’s nationwide police into the matter.
The scenario took a extra peculiar flip when Solange Duarte, a Bolivian diplomat in Barcelona, acquired studies that a few of the friends have been conscious they have been supplied pretend visas.
“Now we have requested the households to point who has processed this visa and we now have not gotten solutions,” Duarte mentioned to the Related Press.
This in itself raises critical issues concerning the safety procedures in place onboard MSC Armonia. By means of the Worldwide Ship and Port Facility Safety (ISPS) Code, every cruise line is required to implement a ship safety plan that outlines the measures that have to be taken to maintain the vessel, the crew, and its passengers secure.
Whereas the precise contents of this plan are confidential, one half that have to be included is implementing a way to get to know with 100% certainty that each one onboard have the documentation required to sail.
The failure to detect counterfeit visas signifies a lapse in verifying visitor documentation earlier than boarding. That being mentioned, anticipating the workers chargeable for visitor check-ins on embarkation day to additionally confirm visas, along with processing 1,500 friends, could be unrealistic.
Learn Additionally: Do I Want a Passport to Go on a Cruise? – Full Information
Whereas your entire scenario is probably going right down to human error, MSC Cruises might be doing a full overview of the scenario and might want to implement safeguards to make sure this doesn’t occur once more.
The 58,600-gross ton MSC Armonia set sail on her subsequent cruise a day late, on April 3, lacking out on the decision to Ajaccio, Corsica, calling to Civitavecchia and Sicily, Italy; Corfu, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and concluding the cruise on April 8 in Marghera, Italy.
