At Least 9 People Went Overboard Off Cruise Ships in 2023

Table Of Content

• Man Who Disappeared from Carnival Cruise Ship 'Jumped' Overboard, Officials Say
• But can CCTV footage be used in court?
• Man overboard! How easy is it to fall overboard on a cruise ship, and how can you survive?
• How often do people fall off cruise ships?
• Japanese navy helicopters crash in Pacific Ocean during training, leaving one dead and seven missing

Authorities say the man who recently disappeared from a Carnival cruise ship appeared to have jumped overboard. "Out of privacy for the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share," said a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean. The Coast Guard said Monday that it has since called off its search for the missing person. A 41-year-old man fell overboard while aboard Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas cruise ship, which was headed to the Bahamas. If you are out on deck or have a balcony cabin on the side of the ship where the emergency responders are searching, you will likely see lights sweeping the area. Ronnie Peale Jr., 35, went overboard from a Carnival Magic cruise ship traveling off the coast of Florida on Monday, the Coast Guard said.

Man Who Disappeared from Carnival Cruise Ship 'Jumped' Overboard, Officials Say

The Coast Guard will continue searching, widening the radius of the search based on probable locations, conditions and ocean currents, until they feel they're unlikely to find the person. Some cruise lines are adding overboard detection sensors which use thermal cameras and micro radars to detect incidents and alert crew members. That cry is one of the worst things you can hear while you're on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. It means someone has spotted a passenger or crew member either going over the side of the ship or in the water, and a life is at stake. The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a 41-year-old man who went overboard on a cruise ship just before Christmas, it said Monday.

But can CCTV footage be used in court?

"I instantly felt sick to my stomach knowing that one of our fellow travelers had been lost at sea," he told the newspaper. According to the US Coast Guard, the ship was 127 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina, when the incident occurred. It can be a harrowing experience to hear the phrase "man overboard" whilst cruising.

Man overboard! How easy is it to fall overboard on a cruise ship, and how can you survive?

Not only is it rare that you will find yourself going overboard but there’s little chance of you ever being on board a ship when such an incident happens. A man-overboard incident will immediately trigger a coordinated, systematic, and ship-wide emergency response designed first to ensure that a man overboard incident occurred, as false alarms can happen from time to time. That said, here’s a look at what happens during a man overboard incident. Sadly, in many cases, we never truly know how or why the person went overboard.

Once the bridge team is aware of the situation, they will sound the internal alarm followed by the word Oscar three times on the PA system. The words “Oscar, Oscar, Oscar” will be heard throughout the ship, alerting the entire crew to what has occurred. In simplest terms, a man overboard incident is exactly what it sounds like. How they wound up going over the railing is less critical than the need to get them out of the water as quickly as possible. Since 2000, 60 passengers have gone overboard on Royal Caribbean ships, according to CruiseJunkie website.

Passenger Overboard from the MSC Preziosa During New Year Cruise - Cruise Law News

Passenger Overboard from the MSC Preziosa During New Year Cruise.

Posted: Sat, 30 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

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On August 29 as the ship was off the coast of Cuba, the 19-year-old Sigmund went overboard. The 64-year-old mother went overboard while the cruise was on its way to Singapore. Reeta Sahani was on Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas with her husband on July 31 in the Singapore Strait, the last day of their four-day cruise to Malaysia. Witnesses said cruise crew members managed to find her and brought her safely back on board in a roughly 45-minute ordeal.

Japanese navy helicopters crash in Pacific Ocean during training, leaving one dead and seven missing

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. The overboard woman was found to be in "good health" after the fall, the Coast Guard said. A rescue expert told Business Insider her survival was "nothing short of miraculous." The Coast Guard searched over 5,171 square miles and more than 60 hours, but crews could not find Peale Jr. This was the twelfth man overboard on a cruise ship in 2023, according to the CruiseJunkie website.

The Coast Guard’s search and rescue operation may involve deploying aircraft, cutters, and a specialized rescue team. If the victim is found, the Coast Guard will conduct a medical evaluation and arrange a transfer to a shoreside medical facility either via cutter or helicopter. On its face, that can sound quite shocking until you look at the big picture and realize that it’s 212 people out of the 224 million who took cruises during that time. Man overboard is a term used to describe someone who has gone off the cruise ship and requires rescue.

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"The ship was moving pretty fast because it was during the night, and we were traveling a long distance," Sims recalled to the Post. "We were screaming and his dad was calling everyone to stop the ship… Lots of crew were up top and they started launching the smaller boats to search after we got turned around and back to the area I'm assuming." In October 2023, a guest sailing onboard Symphony of the Seas was reported going overboard shortly after departing from Barcelona, Spain on a 14-night transatlantic cruise. 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. A 42-year-old woman spent an hour in the water after falling from the 10th deck of the Royal Caribbean International in June but was rescued by the ship's crew. The ship will keep searching until the Coast Guard clears it to continue its voyage to the next port.

But security cameras often indicate the jump was intentional, as seems to have been the case with 30-year-old Jaylen Hill in July. Hill was reported missing by family members on the Carnival Elation and the cruise line said surveillance video showed him jumping over the side. According to the outlet, the ship stopped and the crew used a strobe light to search for the passenger for six hours. Utzinger said he and other guests headed to the pool deck to try to help with the search. The cruise ship will then turn around as soon as possible to reach the area where the person landed in the water.

If the passenger can still be seen, the ship will stop and deploy lifeboats and rescue boats to retrieve them. The passenger, who was traveling with his partner, has not been identified, Cruise Hive reported. According to CLIA, cruise lines have maintained an exceptional safety record and cruising is one of the safest forms of travel. Tyler Barnett, a 28-year-old father of two from Houma, Louisiana was on a week-long cruise with his younger sister and their uncle when he went missing in the middle of the night. 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 Coast Guard called off its search for Hill when he wasn't found after covering more than 1,347 square miles.

Francel Parker, dad of missing Levion Parker, told the Daily Sun that he believes his child — whom he called a master diver — is still alive in the waters off the Bahamas. The 18-story ship was sailing between Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island when the as-yet-unidentified man jumped off one of the decks. "His family was horrified, just beside themselves," she told the outlet. She said the cruise ship captain had been providing regular updates over the loudspeaker and had just confirmed there would be no further updates. Saturday, when an announcement saying “Oscar, Oscar, Oscar, Starboard” was made over the ship’s loudspeakers, passenger Colin Schappi told NBC News affiliate WCBD in Charleston.

Following the search pattern, the guest went overboard approximately 177 miles southeast east of Miami. Bryan Sims told The Post that he was hanging out with Levion and his 18-year-old brother, Seth, in the hotel tub of the ship in the early hours of April 4 before they went their separate ways. The US Coast Guard called off its search for the North Port man a day earlier. I believe he is alive,” Francel Parker said to the local Florida paper Wednesday.

The man was reported missing by his travel companion late Sunday afternoon after he was not seen all day. "The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities." Man overboard rescues can happen on any cruise ship on any cruise line anywhere in the world. As noted above, going overboard is often the result of guest behavior while onboard. Guests who follow general safety procedures needn't worry so much about accidentally falling overboard.

If there are floating things around you, such as garbage, collect what you can to make yourself easier to spot. The Coast Guard has an increasing radius to search depending on where they think you are, and anything at all you can to do increase your chances can help. On Facebook, Mason said she and her family are in need of prayers as they await answers. “We are holding on to hope and prayer that he will be found safe,” she wrote. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The eight-day roundtrip was themed "Christmas," according to the cruise line's website.