Costa fourth cruise line to cancel cruises from Dubai due to Red Sea crisis

Costa Cruises has followed MSC Cruises, Silversea, and AIDA Cruises in cancelling its repositioning voyages from Dubai in the Middle East amid the ongoing security crisis in the Red Sea.

The Italian cruise line, which like MSC, AIDA and TUI, homeports annually in Dubai, will reposition Costa Toscana to Europe via South Africa, without passengers on-board, just as MSC and AIDA have announced they plan to do. 

Costa Toscana was due to depart Dubai on March 9th for a 19-night grand voyage to Savona in Italy, but due to ongoing Houthi attacks on shipping in the Bab Al Mandeb Strait, the ship will instead circumnavigate the southern tip of Africa.

“As you can well understand, the critical situation that is currently affecting the maritime traffic along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden is constantly being monitored with the maximum attention,” Costa said in a statement sent to booked guests.

“As always, the security and well-being of our guests and crew is our foremost priority, and on this direction no uncertainty and compromise can be accepted,” the cruise line added.

“Given recent developments on the security environment and future uncertainties in the area, working in close consultation with global security experts and government authorities, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the cruise that was originally planned,” Costa explained.

Affected guests will be able to choose from a number of options, which include transferring their reservations to any repositioning or transatlantic cruise departing by December 2024, or they choose to take a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for the amount paid.

Those wanting a cash refund can also cancel their reservations altogether.

Houthi militants in Yemen have been attacking merchant vessels in the Red Sea for several weeks, claiming retaliation for the Israeli invasion of Gaza, which was itself in response to the October 7th terrorist attacks on southern Israel by the Hamas militant group.

The group has used drones carrying explosives, as well as anti-ship missiles, to target container ships and oil tankers transiting between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal. The Bab Al Mandeb Strait is the primary waterway between the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, while the Red Sea leads to the Suez Canal.

Although no cruise ships have been attacked by the group, cruise lines have been avoiding the Red Sea out of an abundance of caution. 

TUI Cruises and the luxury French cruise line Ponant are the only remaining cruise lines with ships homeporting in the Arabian Gulf yet to announce the cancellation of repositioning voyages, although an announcement in this regard is all but certain.