Royal Caribbean cruise passenger survives plunge overboard from ship’s 10th deck

A woman has been rescued from the sea after she fell overboard from the 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

The woman, an unnamed 42-year-old, fell into the water while Mariner of the Seas was sailing south of Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic, when the incident occurred, USA Today reports.

The ship was two days into a week-long itinerary sailing around the Caribbean, having departed from Port Canaveral, Florida.

A number of videos of the rescue have been shared on social media, with passengers stating that the ship turned around when the alarm was raised.

The US Coastguard was alerted to a person overboard after she was found by the ship’s crew, according to a spokesperson, who confirmed that they were “recovered alive and reported to be in good health”.

The passenger was taken to the ship’s medical facilities and later admitted to hospital in Willemstad, Curacao, for further evaluation, the spokesperson added. Mariner of the Seas continued on its scheduled voyage.

A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean told The Independent: “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.”

Between 2009 and 2019, there were 212 overboard incidents involving passengers and crew across the globe, according to statistics compiled for Cruise Lines International Association, the world’s latest cruise industry trade body, by consulting firm GP Wild (International) Limited. Of those, just 48 people were rescued.

At the end of May, the search was called off for a 35-year-old man who fell overboard from the Carnival Magic ship. And in April, a passenger went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas while sailing from Australia to Hawaii. Search efforts were later suspended, with the missing man not found.

Late last year, a passenger managed to survive 15 hours in the water after falling overboard in the Gulf of Mexico. The coast guard that found him said “he had a minute and 30 seconds left before we lost him completely.”