Tourist on MSC cruise ship tries to sneak into Japan by climbing down rope

A tourist tried to sneak into Japan - by climbing down a rope from a massive cruise ship.

The 50-year-old man attempted to leave MSC Bellissima before it was due to leave Kobe, central Japan, on Tuesday. He fell from the rope though, it is understood, and plunged from some distance into the water below.

Emergency services were dispatched to a tourist overboard the massive vessel and he was rescued with minor injuries. It is believed the man, who is French, lacked a proper passport or knew he’d be denied entry into Japan for other reasons in the past, and so made the desperate attempt.

But, despite the mishap, he is now in a stable condition, it is said. MSC Cruises, based in Geneva, Switzerland, operates MSC Bellissima largely across Asia. The huge cruise ship has 18 decks and is more than 315 metres long. The Mirror has contacted MSC for comment on Tuesday's emergency operation.

The Covid-19 pandemic started less than one year after MSC Bellissima debuted, having been built in France. On March 21, 2020, officials from the Indian state of Telangana reported that a 33-year-old crew member of MSC Bellissima had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The crew member was also reported to have been to Dubai, and was stable at the time of the report.

And then on March 24, 2020, it was reported that three tourists who were former passengers of MSC Bellissima during its cruise to Dubai from March 7, 2020 to March 14, 2020 had tested positive for coronavirus.

On April 2, 2020, a 22-year-old crew member of MSC Bellissima, who had quarantined himself at home in Trappeto, Sicily after returning from Dubai, announced that he had tested positive that day. On April 10, 2020, a dancer from Klagenfurt, Austria, who performed in Cirque du Soleil shows aboard MSC Bellissima, tested positive for the virus while she was still on board the ship. The crew member was tested a day before she was scheduled to leave for home, and the result came as a surprise as she had been asymptomatic. As of May 4, 2020, she has been stuck aboard MSC Bellissima for 50 days.