MSC Cruises’ MSC Poesia’s current voyage has, unfortunately, been hindered by the loss of one of its crew members.
While sailing an 8-day roundtrip journey that departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 20, 2025, a 32-year-old crew member, identified as Bueno Jeric, a Filipino national, was reported missing late the following night, February 21.
While sailing toward Brazil following a 10-hour call in Montevideo, Uruguay, Jeric failed to report for duty, prompting crew members to review surveillance footage.
The video showed Jeric on the 92,627-gross-ton ship’s forward deck 7 near the port side after 5 p.m. with additional footage from the bridge wing indicating movement in the water.
Cruise Hive’s ship tracker shows the 2,550-passenger MSC Poesia was well underway to Camboriu, Brazil, about 500 nautical miles from Montevideo when the discovery was made.
Because of the distance, the ship did not alter its course to return to the last known location of the crew member.
Instead, the ship contacted rescue authorities with coordinates for a search and rescue. Both the Uruguayan and Brazilian Navy utilized patrol boats and air rescue teams, while other ships in the area were asked to be on the lookout for the man as they sailed.
At this time, Jeric has not been found and it is uncertain if recovery efforts are still in operation. It is also unsure if the tragic overboard was an accident or intentional, but Brazilian authorities are now leading the investigation.
After a sea day on February 22, MSC Poesia’s journey continued to Camboriu in Brazil’s southern state of Santa Catarina and Ilhabela in Brazil’s state of São Paulo on February 23.
The ship last wrapped up a call in Rio de Janeiro on February 25 and is currently en route back to Buenos Aires, where it is scheduled to arrive on February 28, ahead of a similar 9-night journey that will visit Buzios, Brazil, just north of Rio, instead of Camboriu and Ilhabela.
MSC Poesia will remain homeported in Buenos Aires until April 3, 2025, when it sails up the coast of South America for the last cruise of the season before crossing the Atlantic Ocean for a late spring and summer in Northern Europe, homeporting in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Warnemunde, Germany.
Recurring But Not Common Tragedies
Sadly, this is not the first MSC Cruises has dealt with an overboard situation. In October 2024, a 28 Colombian female passenger went overboard on a sailing on the 6,334-passenger MSC Virtuosa from Portugal to Southampton, England.
Although the French Coast Guard and Navy were able to recover the woman from the water off the Channel Islands during the 181,541-gross-ton ship’s rescue efforts, she regrettably was pronounced dead after being brought to a nearby rescue center in France.
MSC Poesia (Photo Credit: Wayleebird)
The 5,714-guest MSC Meraviglia also experienced a loss in December 2022 when a 36-year-old female guest went overboard off the coast of Port Canaveral, Florida.
After extensive search efforts involving the crew aboard the 171,598-gross-ton vessel and the US Coast Guard, the woman’s body was recovered.
Despite the headlines, persons overboard are not common occurrences for cruise ships. In fact, between 2009 and 2019, the Cruise Line International Association’s data recorded 212 overboard incidents, equating to about 19 people annually out of millions of passengers and crew members.
Cruise Hive extends its thoughts to Jeric’s family and friends during this difficult time.
Appeared first on: Cruisehive.com
