Horror as woman plummets overboard into ocean from 10th deck of cruise ship
A cruise passenger has survived falling from the 10th deck of a ship, prompting a dramatic rescue.
The 42-year-old, who has not been identified, was sailing on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas when she fell into the waters around 31 miles south of Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic at around 5.44pm yesterday.
"The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and began searching for the guest,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement to Fox35.
“Thankfully, the guest was successfully recovered and was brought on board."
The woman, who is a US resident, was uninjured and did not require any medical attention was eventually taken to hospital for an assessment.
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Witness and fellow passenger Matthew Kuhn said he thought someone had died when he saw the recuse attempt unfolding as he saw life rafts and smoke.
The captain, Matthew said, told the ship in an announcement that they had "reports of a person overboard."
The captain informed passengers of the incident in an annoucement (FOX35)“I think it was amazing to see everyone was on their balcony,” he said.
“Everyone was trying to help, and the crew was very receptive to everyone.”
Passengers watched the rescue in front of them and began cheering when the woman was recovered from the water, as some people were thinking the worst had happened.
The entire rescue took around 45 minutes from the Coast Guard being informed.
Passengers feared the worst as the rescue took place (FOX35)A statement by the rescue body said: "Coast Guard watch standers at Sector San Juan received a report from the Cruise Ship Mariner of the Seas at approximately 5:44 p.m Sunday that the ship’s crew had rescued a female passenger, 42, US citizen, who had gone overboard.
"The cruise ship was transiting approximately 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic when the incident occurred and was en route to Willemstad, Curaçao.
Cruise ship Mariner of the Seas was around 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana at the time (FOX35)"No medical evacuation of the passenger was requested by the cruise ship.
"The passenger was being kept on the cruise ship’s medical facility and later transferred to the Hospital in Willemstad, Curacao for evaluation.
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"The Coast Guard is investigating the circumstances that led to the passenger going overboard."
Matthew added: "To go from, ‘She’s probably not going to be found,’ and... it’s a body recovery, versus ‘Holy crap, they found her, and she’s alive!”
Matthew was on the cruise with his family (FOX35)Mariner of the Seas is now continuing on her journey and is due to return to Port Canaveral on July 1.
A Cruise Lines International Association report showed there were a total of 2012 man-overboard incidents on cruise ships from 2009 to 2019. Just 28 per cent, a total of 48 people, were reduced successfully.
“When they found her, it was like – people were relieved,” Matthew said. “There was just a sense of, ‘Okay, cool. No one died on our cruise.’”
Royal Caribbean said in a statement: "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."
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