Passengers stranded since Thursday aboard a cruise ship unable to dock in Cape Town because of a southeasterly gale will only be able to come ashore early on Saturday.
Image: Twitter/Sean Hough
City of Cape Town traffic spokesperson Richard Coleman said on Friday that the MSC Musica would make its next attempt to dock at 2am.
Ross Volk, MD of the ship’s owners, told TimesLIVE the company had “designed an entertainment regimen that will keep passengers engaged and interactive” while the vessel remained at anchor off Mouille Point.
Facebook posts from passengers depicted a merry atmosphere. Samantha Alexander posted videos of people dancing on an outside deck.
The ship took refuge from Cape Town’s famous gale-force southeaster – known as the Cape Doctor – behind Lion’s Head after Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) decided it was too risky to dock at the V&A Waterfront’s cruise ship terminal.
The ship was supposed to have docked by midday on Thursday. It would have departed for Port Elizabeth later that day on a “Toks and Tjops” cruise featuring Springbok legends Toks van der Linde, Breyton Paulse and Jean de Villiers.
Volk said: “There are sufficient provisions on board. The wellbeing of the passengers is of primary importance to us and that’s been factored into everything that’s going on, and we’ve attempted to communicate with passengers as best we can.”
But while those on board are unlikely to start eating fellow passengers anytime soon – and there are enough lime slices at the bar to stave off scurvy – those waiting to board are feeling the pain.
