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 Posted
6/21/2009 9:00:00 AM
In the past week there have been two reported incidents of passengers falling overboard from a cruise ship. One was found clinging to a buoy near St Petersburg, Florida. The other is considering missing and the search for her has so far been unsuccessful. Sadly, it’s the latter case that is often the result of such mishaps.
There have been 12 incidents of people falling overboard so far in 2009, according to cruise expert Ross Klein (www.cruisejunkie.com). Alcohol is presumed to be the most common cause, though suicide and foul play may also be factors.
Such tragedies are extremely rare and it is almost impossible to just simply fall from a cruise ship. In my 2 and half years while working aboard a cruise ship I did not see a single incident of someone falling overboard.
I did hear the story however, of a crew member jumping off a different ship during my tenure. She apparently was in the water for about 10 hours before they found her. A truly amazing accomplishment considering the time it takes to turn around a 100,000 ton vessel, then to calculate the location where the person may be.
In all there have been about 100 cases of passengers or crew going overboard on a cruise ship since 2000. Of those who went overboard about 20 were rescued, and the rest were never found. As you can see the odds of being found after hitting the water are against you.
Again the instances are extremely rare and the cruise lines are constantly upgrading their security and adding more and more security cameras to their ships. In fact a new 5,400-passenger ship, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of Seas, will have 2,000 cameras, including infrared ones that track movement on the sides of the ship.
Carnival also has the cruise industry’s first “Care Team,” a group of employees specially trained to respond and support family members in the instance of an overboard or any other emergency situation that might occur.
As tragic as these incidents are, the fact still remains that taking a cruise is one of the best vacations you can experience.
Safe Travels.
Randy
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Randy Sharman
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