Woman saved after she went overboard from 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean ship

Woman saved after she went overboard from 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean ship

A passenger who went overboard from the 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean ship was saved after a nearly hour-long search.

While sailing 30 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic, a 42-year-old American woman went overboard Mariner of the Seas on Sunday as the vessel was headed towards the island of Curaçao, according to the United States Coast Guard.

Crew members sprung into action and quickly launched a rescue boat to search for the woman.

“The passenger was recovered alive and reported to be in good health, after reportedly falling into the water from (the) 10th deck of the ship,” US Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad said in a statement on Wednesday.

After being rescued, the woman was taken to the ship’s medical facility and later transferred to a hospital in Willemstad, Curaçao.

The US Coast Guard is investigating the circumstances that led to the woman going overboard.

“The cruise ship was transiting approximately 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic when the incident occurred and was enroute to Willemstad, Curacao,” said Castrodad.

Some travellers, who were watching the rescue, believed at the time that the woman would not be rescued.

“After we saw the life rafts or the life preservers and the smoke – I was like, someone just died,” cruise ship passenger Matthew Kuhn told FOX 35.

“To go from, she’s probably not going to be found … versus holy crap, they found her, and she’s alive” was a whirlwind, said Kuhn.

Royal Caribbean confirmed the incident in an official statement:

“On Sunday, June 25, a guest went overboard on Mariner of the Seas. The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and began searching for the guest.

“Thankfully, the guest was successfully recovered and was brought on board. Our Care team is now offering assistance and support to them and their traveling party. Out of privacy for the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”

Falling overboard a cruise ship does not usually result in a success story.

A report from CLIA said that of 212 overboard incidents over the span of 2009-19, only 28.2 per cent of victims were rescued successfully.

Latest News

  • Appointments

Abercrombie & Kent and Crystal appoint Evon Ler to director of sales, Asia

Abercrombie & Kent Travel Group have announced that Evon Ler will join them in the new role of director of sales, Asia. She will work closely with Tony Archbold (VP, Sales, APAC, Crystal) and Susan Haberle (VP, Sales & Partnerships, APAC, A&K) with trade support across the region. Ler comes to the A&K family with more […]

  • Luxury

COMO launches new family-sized farmhouse in the heart of Tuscany

COMO Hotels and Resorts has launched its new farmhouse apartments in the heart of Tuscany, just in time for Australians to escape our wet winter. And it’s also an ideal time for Aussies of Italian ancestry to explore their home country as 2024 has been declared the year of Roots and Heritage Tourism by the […]