Coast Guard no longer searching for passenger who jumped from Royal Caribbean cruise

Table Of Content

• ABC News
• Rules Royal Caribbean has required crew to follow if a person goes overboard
• Dramatic video captures chopper pulling pregnant woman from Disney cruise ship
• Coast Guard suspends search for Carnival Cruise Line passenger who went overboard
• Watch: The rise and fall of the cruise industry
• Carnival cruise ship passenger falls overboard, found alive hours later
• Royal Caribbean Blog is your ultimate source for Royal Caribbean coverage.

The company told Insider it had been working with the US Coast Guard, but an agency spokesperson told the outlet that Cuban authorities are in charge of the effort because the incident occurred in their territorial waters. The unidentified guest went off the 230,000-ton vessel late Tuesday, the second day of its seven-day sailing from Port Canaveral, Florida, Royal Caribbean said. Both air and water teams are looking for the man, who went overboard about 95 miles east of Melbourne, Florida, according to the Coast Guard. “I think it kind of blows the norm, the normalcy, out of the water here, and really just shows the will to live is something that you need to account for in every search-and-rescue case,” he told CNN.

ABC News

The low recovery rate has prompted debate on whether or not cruise ships should be required to install man-overboard detection systems that automatically alert crew members when a person goes overboard, instead of retroactively checking security footage. If the US Coast Guard is the agency in charge, responders will likely search for the missing passenger from the air and on the water. After 35-year-old Ronnie Peale Jr. fell overboard a Carnival cruise ship in late May, Coast Guard responders searched more than 5,171 square miles for 60 hours. "The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities," the spokesperson said. A total of 212 overboard incidents were reported on cruise ships from 2009 to 2019, according to a report commissioned by the industry-trade group Cruise Lines International Association.

Rules Royal Caribbean has required crew to follow if a person goes overboard

Before the captain can turn the ship around to look for the missing person, they must notify marine operations — a corporate department based in Miami — unless they are responding to a confirmed overboard sighting, the report said. They don't typically publicize these internal company procedures. But a Bahamas Maritime Authority safety report regarding a 2017 incident excerpted portions of Royal Caribbean International's missing person guidelines. Cruise lines have specific protocols designed for crew to take quick action during man-overboard incidents, the CLIA spokesperson said.

Dramatic video captures chopper pulling pregnant woman from Disney cruise ship

"The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the US Coast Guard, who has taken over the search," the Royal Caribbean spokesperson said. The Mariner of the Seas cruise ship was about 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana on its way to Willemstad, Curaçao, when the passenger went overboard, the statement said. Royal Caribbean International did not respond to multiple requests for comment about whether or not the cruise line has updated its missing person procedures since 2017. The industry blog Cruise Law News first reported on the safety report. Depending on the ship's location, local authorities (such as the Cuban Border Guard) may be put in charge of coordinating search and rescue missions.

Coast Guard suspends search for Carnival Cruise Line passenger who went overboard

The sprawling cruise ship has 16 decks and fits 4,905 guests and 1,500 crew members, according to its website. 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. In 2023, about 31 million passengers traveled on a cruise, and at least 10 people went overboard, with two of them surviving, Business Insider reported. The chances of falling overboard on a cruise ship are extremely low.

Cruise staff will likely review the ship's security footage to determine if, when, and where a passenger has gone overboard. But in some cases, there is no footage due to blind spots on the ship. But if there are no witnesses, it could take hours for the passenger's family or friends to realize they are missing and report the situation to cruise staff. 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. Earlier this month, an Indian woman died after she apparently jumped off the Spectrum of the Seas, another Royal Caribbean cruise 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.

Cruise passenger who jumped to death from ship ID'd as Florida resident who argued with dad before leap - New York Post

Cruise passenger who jumped to death from ship ID'd as Florida resident who argued with dad before leap.

Posted: Wed, 10 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Carnival cruise passenger who went overboard was 'dead set' on surviving

The 28-year-old man said he was determined to make it out of the Gulf of Mexico alive, calling it the experience of a lifetime. Whether you cruise multiple times per year or you're new to cruising, the goal of Royal Caribbean Blog is for it to be a useful resource for keeping up to date with what's new and exciting with Royal Caribbean. In a statement to The Post, Royal Caribbean said its crew immediately sprang into action following the incident. Some passengers said it appeared to be an impulsive, spur-of-the-moment decision. The Coast Guard cleared Carnival Glory to continue to Montego Bay, where it was set to arrive Wednesday, Lupoli said. It's been a week since the incident, and Grimes said the experience has opened his eyes.

Kuhn said that he didn’t expect the passenger to be found alive and that he was pleasantly surprised he was wrong. Everyone was trying to help, and the crew was very receptive to everyone,” he said. "I wanted to see my family and I was dead set on making it out of there. I was never accepting that this is it, this is going to be the end of my life. I'm 28 years old. I'm too young. This is not going to be it," Grimes said.

Royal Caribbean Blog is your ultimate source for Royal Caribbean coverage.

Passengers reported hearing, "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar," which is the crew's code for man overboard, over the PA system. X user @landonb94 even took to social media to post that he was able to see spotlights and rescue boats from his cabin's balcony. 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. According to the Washington Post, about 386 people were reported to have gone overboard on the major cruise lines between 2000 to 2020. A cruise turned into a nightmare for people aboard Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas when a young man jumped overboard shortly after 4 a.m.

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas is set to break the Wonder’s record when it begins service next year, Insider reported. A passenger has gone overboard on Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, while it was off the coast of Cuba during a voyage from Florida. Crews started searching early in the morning on Saturday and into Sunday, the Coast Guard said. Carnival did not provide further details of how the woman fell overboard.

Coast Guard calls off search for American, 20, who 'jumped off Royal Caribbean Liberty Of The Seas cruise ship - Daily Mail

Coast Guard calls off search for American, 20, who 'jumped off Royal Caribbean Liberty Of The Seas cruise ship.

Posted: Tue, 09 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

"Shoreside authorities were notified, and the crew was advised to continue to Jacksonville. The Carnival Care Team is providing support to the guest's family and our thoughts are with them and the guest." According to a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard 7th District Public Affairs Team, the search for the passenger who went overboard while sailing on Liberty of the Seas has been suspended. "The Care Team (Miami) and if necessary, the ship's Medical Unit should be involved to support the family and friends of the missing person," the policy continues, per the report.

Unfortunately, most cruise ship man-overboard incidents don't result in a successful rescue, a 2020 study commissioned by CLIA found. Once crew members learn that a person has gone overboard, they "immediately inform the Coast Guard, stop the ship, and turn around to help find the missing passenger," a spokesperson for the industry trade group Cruise Line International Association told Insider. Based on recent man-overboard incidents, here's what passengers can expect if someone goes overboard during their cruise. Individual incidents and exact procedures followed by cruise lines may vary. "Only on Tuesday were we advised of the possibility of him wearing a different shirt, which allowed our security team to change the profile of the guest as we searched onboard video," Lupoli said in an emailed statement.

She wanted to pursue a career that highlighted her passion for travel and strengths as a writer. Whenever a passenger does go overboard, Royal Caribbean opens up an investigation to determine how it occurred, as well as if there were any safety violations. Recently, he was identified as Levion Parker of North Port, Florida. After being unable to locate Parker, the search, as confirmed by UNILAD, has been called off.

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." Another Carnival passenger was rescued after going overboard from the line’s Carnival Valor ship in November. “The Carnival Care Team is providing support to the guest's companion and traveling party who are on board,” the spokesperson added.

The search area originally encompassed approximately 200 miles, but was narrowed to "roughly 30 miles southwest of" Louisiana's Southwest Pass, the Coast Guard said on X, formerly Twitter. The Carnival Elation was on a four-day Bahamas trip and returned to its homeport of Jacksonville on Monday morning. The missing 28-year-old man, who hasn’t been identified, was with his sister at the Carnival Valor’s bar at 11 p.m. Wednesday when he took a bathroom break and never came back, the outlet reported.