PEOPLE

MSC Cruises is a people-focused company, employing tens of thousands of people across the world.
Nearly 80% work on board our ships.

Read our sustainability reports:

2019 Sustainability Report

2020 Sustainability Report

Health and Safety

Safety training for all crew is mandatory with additional more detailed training specific to each role.

A team of fleet safety trainers from the shoreside Crisis Response Department are responsible for standardising, monitoring, assessing, and if necessary, correcting, the onboard safety activities.

Upon embarkation, and before the ship’s departure, all passengers must attend a safety drill.
Every passenger carries a cruise card or wrist band to ‘check in’ at an assembly station, with the Muster Evacuation Monitoring Protocol System tracking when passengers are on board or when they disembark. This Protocol also includes information about people with special needs who might need additional support in an emergency.

In response to COVID-19 a comprehensive set of operating procedures have been developed that build upon already stringent health and safety measures that have long been in place on board our ships. The new procedures include universal COVID-19 testing for all our guests and crew prior to embarkation, protected shore visits at each destination, enhanced medical services on board and a very detailed contingency response plan.

The new Protocol was designed by in-house specialists in different fields and we were assisted by an expert third party consultancy, and through consultation with our Blue Ribbon COVID-19 Expert Group.

We have been the first cruise line to be back at sea as early as August 2020. Since then we have been able to demonstrate that our protocol is effectively carrying every week thousands of passengers on board our ships.

Discover our Health & Safety Protocol

Our safety procedures are specifically designed to greatly exceed IMO and International Safety Management (ISM) Code regulations and we cultivate a culture where our whole crew has direct responsibility for safety.

Health and Safety

Employee Training and Development

Most initial training of onboard employees occurs at our dedicated crew training facilities around the world allowing training in simulated settings with the same equipment as found on our ships.

Mobile trainers are deployed to the ships, and there is increasing use of e-learning modules, available to all via the crew members’ own smart phones or via tablets available on board each ship, to ensure continued professional development.

With complex technical equipment onboard, deck and engine teams go through comprehensive technical training and certification, in accordance with all applicable national and international rules and regulations and in compliance with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).

We spent over 22,000 hours training our crew on MSC Grandiosa for restart, including specific training of the new Health & Safety Protocol.

A new role has been created on board our ships: the Health Protocol and Compliance Officer, who reports directly to the Captain and the CEO. This role has overall responsibility for implementing the Health & Safety protocol and to ensure that the crew are totally familiar with the new practices and procedures, in line with the Health & Safety measures.

Whether they work on the Bridge, the engine room, in hospitality, or in a supporting role onshore, all our people receive the training they require to allow them to do an exceptional job.

Employee Training and Development

Diversity and Inclusion

Successful steps have led to increased diversity specifically in the Deck department through engaging new officers of diverse nationalities.

At present, 53.7% of our shoreside employees and 19% of onboard crew are female. Our expansion plan means we need to recruit tens of thousands of crew members and we will use this opportunity to improve gender equality across all areas of our operations. We have made a commitment to reach gender equality across our fleet over the next four years.

Our guest-facing crew are provided with training on cultural awareness and sensitivity to various groups, including people with disabilities.

With 124 nationalities across the business, we have a truly international workforce that represents every creed, colour and background.

Diversity and Inclusion

CHARTING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

For us Sustainability means protecting the environment, supporting the people who work with us and choose to travel with us,
as well as the communities and places that we visit and do business with.

Discover our sustainability programme organised around four key pillars: Planet, People, Place and Procurement.