Gale force winds of up to 50 knots broke the mooring lines of the cruise ship MSC Sinfonia while the vessel was anchored at the port of Syracuse, Italy. The incident occurred on Saturday, 6th January 2024, causing the giant cruise ship to collide with other boats moored at the Marina and one of the docks of the Foro Italico. With the collision, MSC Sinfonia is reported to have sunk two boats, and caused damage to other yachts, and to the marina. No one was injured in the collision, with the 275-meter, 58174 gross tonnage cruise liner needing four tugs to return it to its place. MSC Sinfonia was without passengers since it was on a maintenance call since last year (shifting to Augusta for a few days/hours and then back again). Tugboats were immediately called to initiate a salvage operation and secure her again to the moorings in a different and more sheltered position.

Moments of fear gripped the port, where numerous witnesses filmed the scene with their cell phones, subsequently sharing the videos on various social channels. The primary cause of the incident was attributed to the intense winds, transforming a routine technical stop into a high-stakes maritime crisis. However, controversy is mounting on social media over the decision to moor such a large ship, exposed to winds announced by weather forecasts and not far from pleasure boats.