Dineo won't stop weekend jaunt‚ says MSC Cruises

A planned weekend cruise leaving on Friday from Durban to Portuguese Island off Mozambique is going ahead despite Tropical Storm Dineo.

"The cruise is unaffected with no changes having been made to the itinerary‚" MSC Cruises said.

But the company‚ which operates the Sinfonia‚ said it was closely monitoring the situation.

• LIVE: We track Tropical Storm Dineo Heavy rainfall of 100mm to 200mm per day is being forecast for southern Mozambique and parts of South Africa as they are hit by the formidable storm system known as Dineo. 

"At all times‚ our priority is the safety of all passengers and crew on board the MSC Sinfonia‚" it said.

Ross Volk‚ managing director for MSC South Africa‚ said there appeared to be no major obstacles to the cruise. He confirmed that a present cruise - which followed the same route as Friday's planned trip - did change its itinerary because of Tropical Storm Dineo's approach.

• WATCH: Here’s what Tropical Storm Dineo looks like in 3D Tropical Storm Dineo was intensifying in the middle of the Mozambique Channel when NASA's GPM core observatory satellite flew over on February 14, 2017 at 0926 UTC.

TMG Digital reported that the cruiseliner had intended to be anchored off Portuguese Island on Wednesday before heading back to Durban‚ but had instead headed to the KwaZulu-Natal coast early.

Volk said: "We monitor everything daily and hourly both within South Africa and from our head of operations in London. The ship did leave Portuguese Island early for safety reasons to get ahead of the storm."

He said that if there were any late changes‚ passengers would be notified.