“Code Oscar” is one of the few announcements you probably don’t want to hear on a cruise.
This message, sent over a ship’s PA system, alerts crew members when someone falls off a cruise ship, known as man overboard.
Cases of people falling off a cruise ship are rare but often draw plenty of attention.
A passenger on MSC Virtuosa died after going overboard in October 2024 during a sailing from Alderney in the Channel Islands to Southampton.
In August 2024, a passenger reportedly fell from Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas near Croatia and was never found, while another passenger died earlier this year after jumping off Icon of the Seas.
There have been other incidents in recent years but these cases are very much in the minority and cruise lines have strict measures in place to keep people safe and help launch a rescue when there is a man overboard.
Andy Harmer, director of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), told The Independent: “A cruise holiday is one of the safest forms of travel. Cruise ships today are the safest that ever sailed, thanks to the rules, regulations and technological innovations that govern their design. There are no known cases of someone acting responsibly who has accidentally fallen over the railing of a cruise ship.”
How often do people fall off cruise ships?
Passengers very rarely fall off a cruise ship.
Data from the CLIA shows that between 2009 and 2019, there were 212 man overboard incidents on cruise ships. That works out to roughly 19 each year.
More recent data from the CruiseJunkie blog up to this year puts the figure at 417. This is still a tiny amount compared with the 32 million who went on a cruise in 2023.
Cruise blogger Emma Le Teace, who runs the Emma Cruises YouTube channel, says this makes your chance of falling overboard on a cruise around 1 in 1.4 million.
She said: “Luckily, it is almost impossible to fall off a cruise ship. There are still people who manage to fall accidentally – usually while doing something silly or dangerous.”
Can you fall off a cruise ship?
Technically you can fall off a cruise ship. Research by the CLIA shows that in every man overboard incident recorded between 2009 and 2019, it was found to be an “intentional or reckless act.”
Legal expert Brad Huffman adds that cruise line liability can be complicated…
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