A woman fell overboard from the 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship Sunday and survived following a dramatic hour-long rescue in front of concerned passengers.
The unnamed 42-year-old passenger of the Mariner of the Seas ship plunged into the waters roughly 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana at about 5:44 p.m., the US Coast Guard said in a statement.
Cruise ship crewmembers launched a small rescue boat and were able to locate her in the vast ocean and safely bring her back on board, according to the statement.
The woman, a US resident, was unscathed and required no medical attention, though she was later brought to the hospital for an evaluation.
“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.”
Many passengers aboard the cruise ship said they had expected the worst as they watched the scene unfold from their balconies, Fox35 reported.
“After we saw the life rafts or the life preservers and the smoke – I was like, someone just died,” Matthew Kuhn told the outlet.
Kuhn was vacationing on the ship with his family when he spotted the commotion and heard the ship captain make an announcement that they had “reports of a person overboard.”
“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.”
Life preservers and smoke was thrown out to where the woman was. Matt Kuhn/Twitter A small rescue boat was launched and the woman was safely brought back on board. Matt Kuhn/Twitter
When the woman was plucked from the waters by the rescue crew, passengers back on the main ship began cheering, according to the outlet.
“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!” Kuhn told the station of the emotional rollercoaster.
Statistically, Kuhn was not wrong to believe his first thoughts.
Just 28% of cruise ship passengers who fall overboard are safely rescued, according to a Cruise Lines International Association report that tracked operational incidents from 2009 to 2019.
When the woman was plucked from the waters by the rescue crew, passengers back on the main ship began cheering. Matt Kuhn/Twitter
“When they found her, it was like – people were relieved,” Kuhn said. “There was just a sense of, ‘OKAY, cool. No one died on our cruise.’”
The ship continued on its journey following the successful rescue and is set to return to Port Canaveral on July 1.
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