MSC Cruises has partnered with marine conservation charity ORCA to deliver a comprehensive ship strike mitigation program for the line’s deck officers to reduce the likelihood of collisions with whales, dolphins, and porpoises in oceans around the world.

Bridge Officers aboard MSC Bellissima are the first to participate in the online training program. The ship is currently sailing in the Mediterranean from her homeport of Genoa and was chosen as the pilot vessel based on her navigation through the Pelagos Sanctuary, a vast area of 87,500 square kilometres of water and 2,022 kilometres of coastline that is home to numerous marine species.

The plan is to educate those who work on the ship’s bridge about the marine mammals they may encounter on any given voyage, as well as the best practices for avoiding potential ship strikes.

Once the MSC Bellissima trial is completed, the e-learning course will be rolled out across the entire MSC Cruises’ fleet of 21 ships and added to newbuild MSC Euribia that is due to launch in June this year for Northern Europe voyages.

The ship, like the line’s most recent vessels, will be fitted with propeller blades that incorporate a system that adds air bubbles around the propeller to balance the pressure environment.

This and other measures including insulation to reduce noise and vibration from mechanical equipment helps to minimize the negative impact on the marine environment, especially sea mammals.

In 2022, MSC Cruises re-routed its ships off the west coast of Greece to reduce the risk of collision with endangered sperm whales in the Mediterranean.

Sail on over to www.msccruises.ca for more.