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A 51-year-old man recently fell off a cruise ship while sailing to the Western Caribbean with his family. According to the reports, the man and his family boarded the Norwegian Epic cruise ship with a large group. On Thursday afternoon at around 3.00 pm, the man fell overboard as the Norwegian cruise ship sailed toward Great Stirrup Cay.
As the man fell overboard, Code Oscar was raised, and an emergency code was sent over a ship's Public Address system. This emergency code is unique to the Royal Caribbean cruise ships.
Code Oscar is required to be uttered repeatedly thrice. The cruise ship's loudspeaker then alerts the crew members of the accident, and the rescue team is notified. After the signal is raised, the vessel's speed will be reduced so that the necessary rescue measures can be taken.
The person who fell overboard from the Norwegian cruise ship reportedly wore a blue shirt, and no further details about them have surfaced yet. After the incident, a Bahamas Rescue Coordination Center rescue team appeared and conducted a search operation.
"They put a flare, they're circulating. We did an entire circle looking for the guy that jumped off the boat. He jumped, he fell and bounced off of one of these [lifeboats] and fell in the water," a witness wrote on social media, as reported by Daily Mail.
What happens when a passenger goes overboard on a cruise ship?
"Man overboard" refers to when someone falls off a cruise ship. Generally, passengers are briefed about the safety measures they should abide by while boarding a cruise ship. However, if a person falls off a cruise ship, "Code Oscar" is raised to alert crew members and passengers of the accident.
The crew members then activate an emergency button to locate where the person fell. After that, the ship slows its speed and, if necessary, turns around to reach the area.
Some ships advise the passengers to throw a life jacket and inform crew members when a person falls off a ship, while other boats activate the emergency button to detect the accident. Some ships that go in and out of the United States carrying more than 250 people must have cameras to quickly locate someone if they fall.
If a person falls off a ship at night, flashlights are used to locate the person. In contrast, in case of bad weather, when the ship fails to re-route to the area where the person fell, maritime and naval officials take over the rescue operation in such a case to avoid any delay.
According to the Cruise Lines International Association reports, 212 incidents of passengers going overboard were reported between 2009 and 2019. Either intention or recklessness reportedly caused all these incidents.
In recent cases, a 72-year-old man reportedly fell off a cruise ship in early December while he was traveling to Mexico. Another case was reported when a passenger went overboard in October while sailing to Southampton.
According to Andy Harmer, the director of CLIA, no cases of man overboard have been found so far where the passenger was alert and fell by accident. As per CLIA data, the success rate of rescuing individuals in such cases is extremely low.
The recent incident of a man going overboard from a Norwegian cruise ship triggered concerns. The Norwegian cruise ship crew members shot a flare in the water to mark the ship's position after the man fell off.
The Holland America Line quickly approached the cruise ship and assisted in the search operation. Although the search operation went on for hours, they were unsuccessful in finding the man.
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As per Daily Mail reports, a Norwegian cruise ship spokesperson informed that the man's family members were being "attended to and supported during this very challenging situation."
After the rescue team failed to find the man, the captain of the cruise ship informed the news to the passengers on board, and as per the direction of the authorities, the Norwegian cruise ship resumed its voyage.
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