MSC Cruises says Italian bridge collapse hasn’t had any immediate impact on Genoa cruises

The collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy will not directly affect cruises to or from the city, according to a statement from MSC Cruises.

The bridge collapsed on Wednesday, leaving at least 38 people dead, and prompting Italian PM Giuseppe Conte to declare a 12-month state of emergency in the Liguria region.

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MSC Cruises, which has 111 cruise departures scheduled from Genoa during the remainder of 2018, and a further 208 in 2019, says there is no immediate impact on its cruise operations to and from the city.

“We are still assessing the impact this may have for our guests embarking and disembarking in Genoa this upcoming weekend,” the cruise line said. “At this point, our upcoming calls on Saturday [August] 18th (MSC Opera and MSC Divina) and on Sunday 19th (MSC Fantasia and MSC Seaview), are all scheduled to take place as planned.”

MSC Cruises added that all shore excursions for its ships calling in the Port of Genoa would go ahead as planned.

“The excursions that are planned in and around Genoa this weekend are currently not affected. Guests travelling to and from of Genoa need to take additional travel time by road into account,” MSC confirmed.

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“We are currently expecting to receive an updated road traffic plan which will be issued by the authorities shortly. This will help us to schedule transportation for our embarking and disembarking guests,” the statement added.

More than 500,000 cruise tourists fly into or drive to Genoa every year to board cruise ships departing the city.

Genoa Airport is just over four miles from the city centre, serving airlines including British Airways, Air France, Air Italy, Lufthansa, Ryanair and Turkish Airlines. The Moranti Bridge was a major thoroughfare for passengers travelling between the airport and the ship’s cruise terminal.

No flights have been disrupted, but the airport warns that as a result of the bridge collapse, traffic on the A10 is interrupted and travellers should factor in extra time when getting to and from the airport via alternative routes.