Passengers from two cruise ships on calls at the Tunisian port of La Goulette (the port for Tunis) were caught up in a major terrorist attack at the Bardo National Museum on 18 March. The attack, clearly targeted at the tourism industry, left 22 people dead, including 12 passengers from MSC Splendida and five from Costa Fascinosa. A further 21 passengers from the two ships were wounded and remained in hospital as the ships sailed early the following morning.
The first reaction from the cruise industry included the cancellation of all further Costa and MSC calls at Tunisian ports until further notice. Costa had 39 more calls scheduled for Tunis this year and MSC had a similar number. Aida Cruises has cancelled all calls for Aidablu, Aidasol and Aidavita, and other operators, including Hapag-Lloyd, Holland America, Princess and Star Clippers have also revised their itineraries.
