At Least 9 People Went Overboard Off Cruise Ships in 2023

Table Of Content

• MORE: Coast Guard rescues man who went overboard on Carnival cruise ship
• How many people are rescued after falling off a cruise ship?
• Keep up with today's most important news
• Overboard cruise passenger spent hours in Gulf of Mexico before he was rescued
• Passenger overboard: Coast Guard rescues Carnival passenger who fell overboard
• Michael Douglas, 79, says his kids’ college thought he was a grandfather on Parents’ Day: ‘That was a rough one’
• Dramatic video captures chopper pulling pregnant woman from Disney cruise ship

Alcohol can play a role in overboard incidents, said Michael Winkleman, a maritime attorney with Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A., who has represented travelers in overboard cases. "Usually, it's just people not making smart decisions because they're dramatically overserved and they end up going over," he said. “The early morning was definitely somber as so many people came out of their cabins to stare at the sea, hoping to be able to aid in finding the person,” said Amy Phelps Fouse, a passenger on the ship. The Wonder of the Seas, which is 1,188 feet long and features 18 decks, can accommodate nearly 7,000 passengers and 2,300 crew members.

MORE: Coast Guard rescues man who went overboard on Carnival cruise ship

"I think we'll start seeing more and more of the detection equipment once the certification process is complete," he said. Boleen said security on board told her that while the Carnival Valor had camera footage from the bar where her brother was last seen, it did not have cameras everywhere because it was an older vessel. "The problem was tuning the technology just right so that you wouldn't be getting false alarms every time a seagull flew by the ship," he said. "It's just human nature, if you have alarms going off constantly, they become less and less important." In December, an MSC Cruises passenger jumped from one of its ships while sailing from Europe to South America. "The Bahamas government has called off the rescue for Cameron and we are returning to Baton Rouge," the family said in a statement.

How many people are rescued after falling off a cruise ship?

California resident Kenneth Schwalbe, 59, was traveling on the Emerald Princess ship when he went overboard on August 11 about eight miles off the coast of Hilo, Hawaii. The family of 35-year-old Australian cruise passenger Warwick Tollemache told Nine News he was a "kind, beautiful, and gentle soul who was adored by everyone who knew him." A passenger sailing with Carnival Cruise Line was returned safely to shore Thursday after going overboard. Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. Night video from Coast Guard aircraft appears to show the man struggling in relatively calm but active seas, where his head dipped below the surface with every wave.

Keep up with today's most important news

A passenger traveling on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas vessel went overboard on October 29 after the ship departed Barcelona and was saved. The Coast Guard called off its search for Hill when he wasn't found after covering more than 1,347 square miles. The Carnival Valor had been at sea for only a day when calls came over the loudspeaker asking a certain passenger to please report to customer service. Another Carnival passenger was rescued after going overboard from the line’s Carnival Valor ship in November.

Overboard cruise passenger spent hours in Gulf of Mexico before he was rescued

Coast Guard crews searching for 20-year-old who fell overboard from cruise that set sail from Port Everglades - WSVN 7News Miami News, Weather, Sports Fort Lauderdale

Coast Guard crews searching for 20-year-old who fell overboard from cruise that set sail from Port Everglades.

Posted: Thu, 04 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The Coast Guard confirmed to The Post it is still conducting a search and rescue operation in the waters off Cuba. In the past few years, most cruise lines have enacted onboard safety measures and surveillance systems to help reduce the risk of overboard deaths. The Coast Guard assisted the Royal Bahamas Defence Force in search efforts by deploying aircrews. In June, a 42-year-old woman was rescued after she fell off Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas about 25 miles south of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic during a trip from Florida.

Two Spanish Coastguard helicopters and a plane have also been mobilised. The search is focusing on an area near Mazarron in Murcia, south east Spain. The missing tourist, a 34-year-old described as a man of Saudi Arabian origin, has not been named. According to a passenger, a group of teenagers was nearby when it happened. They were on deck 12 for quite a long time, and saw him close to the rail, deck 12, aft, starboard.

'Drunk' cruise ship passenger, 20, jumps overboard 18-story Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas into sea off - Daily Mail

'Drunk' cruise ship passenger, 20, jumps overboard 18-story Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas into sea off.

Posted: Fri, 05 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

College student Sigmund Ropich of Texas was vacationing with his friends on Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world in August, his sister Savannah Ropich told Business Insider. Carnival Elation passenger Jaylen Hill, 30, went overboard on the vessel on July 23 as the ship was on a four-day Bahamas sailing and on its way back to Jacksonville, Florida. The overboard woman was found to be in "good health" after the fall, the Coast Guard said.

Dramatic video captures chopper pulling pregnant woman from Disney cruise ship

In March, a body was recovered after a man jumped overboard from Carnival Horizon, and the Coast Guard suspended a search for a man who jumped overboard from the line's Mardi Gras ship in April. The passenger, according to the Coast Guard, turned out to be James Grimes, 28, who had been traveling with his parents and siblings on the five-day cruise. Cruise ships have safeguards in place to keep passengers from going overboard and are required by the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010 to have rails that are "located not less than 42 inches above the cabin deck." Grimes said he treaded water for nearly 20 hours after falling overboard on Thanksgiving Eve -- battling jelly fish, rip currents and shark-infested waters before being airlifted by the U.S.

Of the 212 listed as overboard between 2009 and 2019, only 48 people were rescued. Describe the person as best you can, including how fit they appeared, what they were wearing and if they were holding anything that might float, as all those factors will affect likely survival times. The captain also will notify other ships in the area who are then obligated to help search. The bridge will contact the Coast Guard and a search will begin. The ship will stop and the crew will try to pinpoint where and when it happened so they can start a thorough search in that area. "I'll stress that people don't just fall over the side," said Brian Salerno, senior vice president of global maritime policy at Cruise Lines International Association, the industry's leading trade group.

The cruise ship was on a four-day Bahamas sailing and on its way back to Jacksonville, Florida, at the time of the incident, Matt Lupoli, a Carnival spokesperson, said. The man was reported missing by his travel companion late Sunday afternoon after he was not seen all day. All ships have "safety barriers that are regulated by U.S. Coast Guard standards and prevent a guest from falling off," according to Carnival spokesperson Matt Lupoli.

He said that when he looked over the balcony of his room, he saw crew members tossing life preservers into the water. The U.S. Coast Guard said on Sunday that it halted its search for a woman who went overboard from a Carnival cruise ship near Ensenada, Mexico. The 28-year-old, who was not publicly identified, may have been in the water for at least six hours when he was plucked from the sea Thursday. He was rescued about 20 miles south of Louisiana's Southwest Pass, where the Mississippi River meets the coast, U.S. A man who went overboard during a holiday cruise in the Gulf of Mexico was rescued after several hours in the water off New Orleans, authorities said Friday. The sibling didn’t report her brother gone until noon the next day,  prompting the Cozumel, Mexico-bound ship to retrace its sailing path toward New Orleans Thursday, Carnival spokesperson Matt Lupoli told the outlet.

Levion Parker, 20, was identified by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. He has been missing since he jumped overboard on April 4 in front of his brother and father on the cruise to Cuba and the Bahamas. The standard was finalized around the time the COVID-19 pandemic began, Salerno said, which delayed the process, but some ships have adopted the detection systems. "During the search, another mariner spotted Mr. Grimes in the ocean and contacted the USCG, and the rescue was made," he said.

"We remain greatly appreciative of all the efforts that brought Mr. Grimes to safety." Sherry Boleen got up early to watch the sunrise with her family during a cruise to Mexico over Thanksgiving. But when she arrived at her siblings' cabin on Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Valor ship around 6 a.m., her stepsister said their brother, James Michael Grimes, never came back to the room.