‘We need answers’: Durban mother mourns son who died aboard cruise ship

A Durban mother says her family was left with unanswered questions after her 21-year-old son died aboard the MSC Euribia in October 2025.

MSC Cruises says he suffered a sudden deterioration and cardiac arrest, and that it assisted with repatriation and funeral costs.

Zenith Adams, 56, an administrative clerk from Newlands East, said her 21-year-old son, Laeeq, was a young man with ambitions of seeing the world, supporting his family and eventually starting one of his own.

She said he had been working aboard the MSC Euribia for seven months as an assistant waiter.

It was his first contract at sea, but Adams said he had already secured another contract with Opera Vessel, which was due to start on November 29, 2025.

For his family, the job represented an opportunity for Laeeq to experience the world while building a better future.

Adams said the family last saw him in April 2025, but remained in regular contact through video calls.

“In what was my last call to him, he looked tired, but he was still jovial. “Our conversation was about what series I was watching, as the ship only had old stuff, and what nice food I was going to cook when he got home,” Adams said.

Adams said they did not speak during the two days before his death because Laeeq had become ill.

Then, on October 18, the family received the devastating news that Laeeq had passed away.

“A family member contacted me because he knew people on board the Euribia who told him Laeeq had passed away. He was declared dead in the early hours of the morning,” she said.

The family initially learnt of his death through people aboard the vessel and social media.

“We saw people's statuses change to ‘rest in peace’. Then his girlfriend called and told me. I did not know her, so she sent me pictures of the two of them together to show it was the correct person,” Adams said.

She said she was subsequently contacted by a paramedic and a doctor, while later that afternoon MSC representative Lisa Moses contacted her husband.