Six Passengers Arrested After Fake Emergency Broadcast Causes Panic on Cruise Ship

A group of cruise passengers turned a routine sailing into chaos, and it reportedly landed them in handcuffs once the ship docked.

Italian outlet La Repubblica reported on Tuesday, July 30 that six adult passengers were arrested early that morning after allegedly gaining access to MSC Divina’s intercom system and broadcasting fake emergency alerts.

The fake announcements went out just before 6:30 a.m. local time while the ship sailed from Marmaris, Turkey, to Naples, Italy. The messages, which reportedly caused panic onboard, claimed the captain had lost control of the vessel and that it was drifting at sea, though the broadcasts only reached common areas on two decks.

Alarmed passengers reported the announcements by phone to the Operations Center of the General Command of the Port Authority of Rome, part of the Italian Coast Guard, as reported by Napoli Today. Once the ship docked in Naples, officers boarded with help from the city’s Border Police and traced the broadcasts back to the group, acting on a formal complaint filed by the ship’s captain.

All six men were referred to Italian judicial authorities on charges of unauthorized access to a computer system and causing a public alarm, as per the outlet.

An MSC Cruises spokesperson confirmed the incident in a statement to People, saying, “An unauthorized announcement was broadcast on the ship’s PA system.”

The spokesperson added that the ship’s systems were never hacked or compromised and that operations were never affected, noting that the situation was resolved quickly and new measures are now in place to prevent a repeat.

The individuals were reported to authorities and disembarked, MSC confirmed, and the captain later addressed passengers directly to apologize for the disruption.