Furious cruise ship passengers go on hunger strike | World | News

Passengers on a luxury £10,000 cruise trip have gone on hunger strike after the ship suffered an engine malfuction, putting an end to what could have been “the trip of a lifetime”. 

The SH Diana, operated by Swan Hellenic, departed Cape Town on November 13 for a 20-night trip to Antarctica before running into engine failure, which forced the voyage to be called off.

It’s currently making its way to its next departure port in Ushuaia at the southern tip of South America, slowly crawling along at just six knots (6.8 mp/h). 

When it arrives on Saturday, engineers will endeavour to fix the issue before it’s next due to depart on December 3, just three days later.

The ship is carrying roughly 170 passengers, about 10 of which are British, and most are furious that they’re not being offered a full refund.

One passenger, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed that the engine failure and passenger outcry has gone down “very badly” with the cruise company.

They told The Times: “They made the right call not to go to Antarctica for safety reasons, but it is being handled very badly by Swan Hellenic.

“To go to Antarctica is a trip of a lifetime and this specific sailing made it achievable for many on board to do so as it’s a repositioning sailing that had attractive deals.

“Many of the passengers are very angry and it was getting nasty yesterday. The company needs to make a better offer to quell the continuing rising anger.“

Some of the Russian passengers are taking their frustrations to the next level, going on hunger strike until their demands for a full refund are met. 

Others have taken to writing letters. One seen by the outlet reads: “Understandably, we are unhappy and disappointed that this journey has [been] cut short under these circumstances.

“For a majority of us, this is our first time visiting Antarctica, and potentially the last opportunity for many. Some guests are elderly, disabled, and have struggled already to get to this point, only for the trip to be cut short.

“For many of us, visiting Antarctica is a life-long bucket list that we want to achieve before death or disability.”

Swan Hellenic offered the passengers a 50 percent monetary refund or a 65 percent refund in “future cruise credit” to be used within two years, as well as promising free activities once the ship docks at Ushaia.

The company’s CEO, Andrea Zito, said the offer is “significantly higher than the legal requirement of approximately 30 percent”.

His statement read: “Alternatively, guests were offered a 65% future cruise credit on any SH cruise. Many of the obviously very disappointed passengers accepted this offer and some have already rebooked.

“As expected, not all of the guests were immediately satisfied with this compensation and have tried to build up pressure through discussions on board and by making demands on the captain and senior staff in order to obtain an even higher compensation for themselves.

“The initial unease has largely subsided. A select few chose to stage a hunger strike in their protest which is of rather counterproductive. We are working towards a swift end to this action.”