New drama as cruise ship is detained in Southampton by coastguards

Cruise ship MSC Opera, which suffered an electrical failure and blackout in the Baltic two weeks ago, has been detained in Southampton after a safety inspection by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The 1,800-passenger ship, built in 2004, underwent repairs in the Polish port of Gdynia after the breakdown on May 14 off the coast of Gotland. It arrived in Southampton on Wednesday and is due to resume service today, taking passengers on an eight-night cruise to the Norwegian fjords.
A statement from the MCA said ” Various defects were found which meant that the ship was not fully compliant with International maritime safety regulations. As a consequence the MCA decided that it was necessary to detain the vessel in Southampton until such time as the owners were able to demonstrate compliance.”
A number of follow-up visits were made to the ship, but by midday today it was still not clear whether it would be able to sail as scheduled this evening.
UPDATE: MSC Opera left Southampton’s City terminal shortly before 7.00 pm BST, three hours later than scheduled. The statement posted on the MCA website at 11.11 am, which is quoted above, has been removed. At 7.54 pm, MSC issued the following statement:
“MSC Cruises is delighted to announce that MSC Opera left Southampton today to begin her eight-night cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. Docked at the port of Southampton since May 25, MSC Opera was visited, as per standard procedure, by Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) staff and released as fully compliant with International maritime safety regulations.
“MSC Opera will call at Southampton port throughout the season for a total of five cruises to the Norwegian Fjords, and nine cruises along the Atlantic coast, calling at Amsterdam, La Rochelle, Bilbao, La Coruna, and Cherbourg. MSC Opera will depart from Southampton on September 16 for an 11-night arriving in Venice on September 27”.