In a creating incident, a visitor is reported overboard from Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic late Thursday afternoon, December 26, 2024. The ship is at the moment concerned in search operations and has been joined by one other close by cruise ship within the hopes of a profitable final result.
The incident was first famous at roughly 3 p.m. as Norwegian Epic was crusing northbound from Ocho Rios, Jamaica en path to Nice Stirrup Cay within the Bahamas. The ship is at the moment on a 7-night Western Caribbean voyage that departed Port Canaveral, Florida on Saturday, December 21.
The id of the person reported overboard has not been confirmed presently, although it’s believed they’re a visitor onboard somewhat than a crew member.
Search and rescue operations had been initiated instantly, with a flare tossed into the water to mark the ship’s place on the first report of the overboard. Norwegian Epic instantly labored to cease and switch round to start looking with a typical round sample to cross and recross the search space.
It might take a while for a ship as massive because the 155,873-gross-ton Norwegian Epic to gradual and switch safely. With sundown within the Bahamas on December 26 at 5:18 p.m., there have been solely a pair hours of sturdy daylight accessible earlier than search operations would change into way more tough.
Many passengers onboard had been making an attempt to help with the search by watching over balconies and from the ship’s open decks. Onboard bulletins indicated that the person overboard was sporting a blue shirt.
Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam was additionally close by and joined within the search. Zuiderdam is homeported from Port Everglades and is within the midst of a 7-night Caribbean itinerary as effectively, with December 26 as a day at sea.
It needs to be famous that Norwegian Epic has had a number of medical incidents aboard the present crusing, with ambulances assembly the ship on the first port of name – Cozumel, Mexico on Monday, December 23 – in addition to on Ocho Rios on Christmas Day.
There is no such thing as a reported connection between the earlier medical calls and the continued overboard incident.
No additional particulars of the circumstances of the overboard have but been confirmed. Whereas there’s hypothesis that it might be one other medical incident, that is unlikely as cruise ship railings are sufficiently excessive to stop any unintended overboard, whatever the scenario.
Different data from friends at the moment onboard Norwegian Epic appear to point the incident could have been deliberate.
Norwegian Epic will proceed search operations so long as attainable, both till the cruise ship is launched by authorities as they attain the scene to take over the search or if the person is recovered.
Different Current Cruise Ship Overboards
There have been a number of overboard incidents reported not too long ago from completely different cruise ships and cruise strains simply this month.
On Saturday, December 21, 2024, a feminine passenger tried to leap from Princess Cruises’ Sky Princess however impacted a lifeboat and finally handed from her accidents. On the time, the ship was returning to Fort Lauderdale on the finish of a 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary.
Lower than every week earlier, on December 17, a code OSCAR was known as from Royal Caribbean’s Imaginative and prescient of the Seas, indicating an overboard scenario. The ship was ending a 12-night Southern Caribbean itinerary on the time.
On December 2, a male passenger was reported lacking and believed overboard from Princess Cruises’ Ruby Princess because the ship returned to San Francisco on the finish of a 5-night itinerary that had included visits to San Diego and Ensenada.
Learn Additionally: Secret and Emergency Codes on Cruise Ships Solely Crew Members Know
Any overboard incident is a tense scenario for each passengers and crew members as emergency operations get underway, at all times with hopes of a constructive final result.
Cruise Hive’s ideas are with the relations, journey companions, and crew members impacted by these troubling incidents.
