MSC Musica to sail toward Antarctica from Durban on most unique cruise of SA season

MSC Cruises and the conservation non-profit BirdLife South Africa are offering one of the most unusual voyages of the season from South Africa in January, 2025, with MSC Musica set to sail south from Durban for the Marion and Prince Edward Islands.

Lying just beyond the 40th parallel south, in the ‘Roaring Forties’ of the Southern Indian Ocean, the Marion and Prince Edward Islands are one of South Africa’s most ecologically untouched and unique landscapes, offering passengers an up-close look at one of the world’s most important breeding sites for birds.

The more than 2,000 nautical mile roundtrip voyage will last a week and will take passengers deep into the sub-Antarctic, where they will be able to observe up to 60 different species of seabirds, many of them very rare, along with around half of all the world’s species of Albatross.

Around 1,400 birdwatchers, nature enthusiasts and photographers have already booked the “Flock to Marion AGAIN!” itinerary, which departs Durban on January 24th. MSC Musica will be following in the wake of MSC Opera, which in 2022 sailed the first such voyage.

“We saw no less than 60 different species of seabirds, many of them incredibly rare,” said Seabird expert, author and artist, Peter Harrison, of the 2022 voyage. “At one point as we cruised between the islands, we had no less than 500 albatrosses in the air together, and among them were nine different species – almost half the world’s albatross species.” 

“This is a voyage for everyone from ardent conservationists, to novice birders and those who are experienced,” he added.

According to MSC Cruises, there are just 600 berths still available, with profits made on the voyage to be donated to the Mouse-Free Marion campaign, a BirdLife South Africa and Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment project to rid Marion Island of invasive house mice.

Accidentally introduced by humans in the 19th century, the mice are preying on Marion Island’s globally important seabirds and undermining the integrity of the island’s ecosystem. Without intervention 19 of the 29 species of seabird breeding on the island face local extinction.

Both Marion and Prince Edward Islands are Special Nature Reserves and lie within a marine protected area, the only human inhabitants of the islands are the staff of a meteorological and biological research station run by the South African National Antarctic Programme.It is estimated the islands support upwards of 8 million seabirds, 5 million of which breed on the islands. The waters around the islands are also home to seals, whales, and orcas.