A cruise ship passenger may have gone overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, reports online say.
According to a post on Reddit, guests aboard Explorer of the Seas were awoken to rescue efforts at 5am on Friday.
"They turned the ship about and launched multiple boats and had spotlights looking into the ocean. I could hear high pitch sounds coming from the distance. I fear someone may have gone overboard," wrote Aramedlig.
Later in the thread, the same user posted, "Confirmed it is a man overboard. They just made an announcement."
Explorer of the Seas is sailing a 7-Night Greece & Croatia itinerary that set sail from Ravenna, Italy. According to the report, the ship was between Dbrovnik and Zadar, Croatia when the incident occurred.
Another Reddit user on the same sailing added more details regarding the rescue efforts.
"They have several local ships on either side and about 6 of the onboard fast rescue launches out," wrote Harleys-for-all.
"We've formed a line in the sea about 2 miles wide and are slowly combing the area."
User lesleyanne_b shared a photo of the rescue efforts, "They’re still actively searching. High speed rescue ship and two tenders, with Croatian ship supporting on starboard side."
Kilo_watt added, "Croatian Coast Guard and Air Force are helping. Our port of call to Zadar today has been canceled."
Screenshot care of Marine Traffic
Based on the ship's path, it's clear it engaged in a series of movements in an effort to locate the passenger.
According to a report by the Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija, the person in question is, "a young citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."
Explorer of the Seas is a large cruise ship, capable of carrying 4,290 passengers at maximum capacity, along with 1,185 crew members. She is 1,020 feet long and 157.5 feet wide.
The first sailing of Explorer of the Seas took place on October 28, 2000.
Onboard safety precautions
The chances of falling overboard on a cruise ship are extremely low.
Deck railings on Royal Caribbean cruise ships are at least 42-inches high, which comply Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) of 2010.
In addition, there are thick metal or Plexiglas panels or metal bars are positioned under the railings to prevent people from slipping through.
When a man overboard situation occurs, the media usually reports on it and it leads some to wonder how it could happen in the first place.
An article from The Points Guy points out cruise ships have railings that are around chest height to ensure passenger safety and to prevent someone from slipping and falling overboard.
"The only way you risk a fall is if you're standing on furniture to peer over the side or climbing somewhere you're not supposed to. It's not possible for you to trip over a door frame or slip on a wet deck and fall off of a vessel."
Passengers going overboard are rare
The chances of a cruise ship passenger going overboard are quite low, but it does occasionally happen.
In a report from Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), there were 212 identified overboard incidents from cruise ships for either crew members or passengers between 2009 to 2019.
Of these overboard incidents, only 48 (or 28.2%) individuals were successfully rescued. Around 71.8% of people who go overboard from cruise ships are sadly never recovered or located.
The CLIA report also shows an overall decline in overboard incidents throughout the 10-year period. The overboard incident rate decreased 64% from 2009 to 2019, with an incidence rate of 0.00004 overboard reports per active lower berth in 2019.
The report states, “When compared with the growth in capacity in the industry over the study years, man overboard incidents continue on a downward trend.”
