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Six Italian cruise passengers are accused of accessing the ship’s intercom to broadcast false emergency alerts during a ‘MSC Divina’ sailing
Authorities intervened in Naples after passengers reported the alerts to the Italian Coast Guard’s Operations Center
MSC Cruises confirmed the ship’s systems were not “hacked” and changes were made to prevent similar incidents in the future
A group of adult cruise passengers were reportedly arrested after accusations they broadcasted fake emergency announcements over a ship’s PA system.
The incident occurred on board the MSC Divina cruise ship while it was sailing from Marmaris, Turkey, to Naples, Italy, on Thursday, July 30, according to Italian outlets La Repubblica and Napoli Today.
Just before 6:30 a.m. local time, a group of six young adults from Italy reportedly gained unauthorized access to the ship’s on board intercom system and made false emergency alerts. However, the announcements only reached the common areas of two decks, per the reports.
The group reportedly alerted passengers that the captain had lost control of the vessel and the ship was traveling adrift, according to La Repubblica.
An Italian Coast Guard patrol boat
Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty
Several other passengers subsequently reported the alert via phone to the Operations Center of the General Command of the Port Authority of Rome, a division of the Italian Coast Guard. With the help of the Border Police of Naples, authorities intervened when the ship docked in the city.
Following a formal complaint filed by the ship’s captain, officers boarded the ship and traced the transmission to the six passengers. They were then deferred to the proper authorities on accusations of unauthorized access to a computer system and causing an alarm, per the reports.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, a MSC Cruises spokesperson confirmed “an unauthorized announcement was broadcast on the ship’s PA system.” However, they said “at no point were any of the ship’s systems hacked or compromised, including any computer systems,” adding “the safe operation of the ship was not impacted in any way.”
The incident was “immediately resolved and changes put in place to ensure it won’t happen again,” MSC says.
The individuals were reported to the relevant authorities and disembarked from the vessel, the cruise line confirmed.
They added that a clarification message was later broadcast by the captain, apologizing for the disruption and any concern caused.
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PEOPLE has reached out to the Italian Coast Guard and the Central Tyrrhenian Sea Port System Authority, which oversee the Port of Naples, for comment.
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