man overboard announcement on cruise ship

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Family of Warwick Tollemache releases tribute as search for the Australian man who went overboard cruise ship Quantum of the Seas is suspended

An Australian man who went overboard a cruise ship has been identified, with his devastated family sharing a heartbreaking tribute to the “kind, beautiful, and gentle soul”.

The Australian man who fell overboard a cruise ship enroute to Hawaii has been identified as Warwick Tollemache.

Crews on board the Quantum of the Seas conducted an immediate search for the 35-year-old about 11pm on Tuesday evening (local time).

The search was suspended on Thursday after the ship’s crew, the United States Coast Guard and the US Navy failed to locate him in the water during a large-scale hunt.

A widespread amber alert was also sent out via radio to notify nearby ships in the effort to find Mr Tollemache.

His family devastated family confirmed he had fallen overboard and remembered him as a "gentle soul" in an emotional statement.

“Our family is heartbroken at the loss of our beloved Warwick,” his mother Mandy Tollemache wrote to social media.

“He was a kind, beautiful, and gentle soul who was adored by everyone who knew him. He will be deeply missed.

“We kindly ask for privacy during this difficult time. Thank you for your understanding.”

Coast Guard search and rescue coordinator Kevin Cooper said the “difficult decision” to suspend the search came after discussions with his family.

“After reviewing all relevant information of the case and discussing it with the next of kin, the Coast Guard has made the difficult decision to suspend the active search for the passenger aboard the Quantum of the Seas,” he said in a statement.

Royal Caribbean Cruises, who operate the cruise ship, said their “deepest sympathies” were with his loved ones.

“While on its trans-pacific sailing, a guest onboard Quantum of the Seas went overboard,” it said in an earlier statement.

“The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and worked closely with local authorities.

“Out of respect for the family, we will not share further details about this unfortunate event. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his loved ones at this time.”

While it is unclear how Mr Tollemache fell, passenger Ken Carcas told Sky News Australia, according to multiple other passengers, “two crew him saw him go overboard"

"A lady heard a scream, went out onto the balcony and saw him drop past, hit the tender below and fall into the water," he said on Thursday.

He added the captain immediately made an announcement and begun the search. 

Maritime lawyer James Walker on Friday revealed to Sky News Australia that he believed the cruise ship did not have an Automatic Man Overboard System.

“In the US, there’s legislation requiring cruise ships to have automatic man overboard systems – notifying them that someone’s gone over the rails,” he told Peter Stefanovic.

“Through infrared technology and radar technology, they can actually track the person in the water. This particular ship – it did not have a man overboard system.

“This specific cruise line also has a policy not to permit the captain to turn the ship around until they first notify the home headquarters here in Miami, advising them that there’s been a man overboard before they can begin search and rescue operations.”

The cruise ship Quantum of the Seas has since arrived at Kona, a Hawaii island, after departing from Brisbane on April 12.

Passengers disembarked for some time at the tourist destination before boarding again to arrive at the final stop of Honolulu on Friday.

The tragedy followed the death of a woman on board the same cruise, after she suffered a medical emergency in an unrelated incident.

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Coast Guard rescues man who went overboard on Carnival cruise ship: 'A Thanksgiving miracle'

Rescuers haven't been able to determine how long the man was in the water but say it could have been more than 15 hours.

In the first hours after the Carnival Valor set sail from New Orleans on Thanksgiving eve, a brother and sister set off for a place apropos of a holiday mood: They headed to an onboard bar.

Predictably, the man at one point stepped away to use the restroom.

But he didn't come back.

Hours passed.

He wasn't in his stateroom.

The 28-year-old had, quite simply, vanished.

What happened next has astonished at least one seasoned mariner who, with hours of hindsight, declared the stunning outcome unlike anything he's ever witnessed -- and nothing short of "one of those Thanksgiving miracles."

A search is launched by air and sea

It was around 11 p.m. when her brother walked off, the sister recalled, Carnival spokesperson Matt Lupoli told CNN on Thursday in a statement.

At noon the next day -- Thanksgiving Day -- she reported him missing, the statement said. Officials haven't identified either one.

Announcements echoed through the ship for the missing passenger to check in with guest services, passenger Mike Anderson CNN on Thursday, and people "noticed security starting to search the boat with a photo of the missing (passenger) in their phones."

At around 2 p.m., a final check-in request was issued, he said.

Passengers were told the arrival time to their port of call in Cozumel, Mexico, would be delayed, Anderson said, but no official announcement went out about what had happened.

The ship, he said, then turned around.

"Carnival Valor retraced its route to support the search and rescue," Lupoli explained.

Then around 2:30 p.m., the Coast Guard got a call from the ship, Coast Guard Lt. Phillip VanderWeit said in a statement.

A cruise passenger was missing.

Soon, a multi-crew search for the man -- by air and by sea -- was underway, he said.

A 200-mile zone and a critical mission

An alert went out to all mariners in the gulf, and the Coast Guard "launched all available resources," Lt. Seth Gross, a search and rescue coordinator for the USCG told CNN on Friday morning.

That included a small boat from Venice, Florida, a helicopter based in New Orleans and airplanes from Clearwater, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama, he said.

The search extended more than 200 miles in the gulf, Gross said, adding the water temperature there Thursday night was just above 70 degrees -- and somewhat colder in the Mississippi River.

Given the time difference between when the man was last seen and when the Coast Guard was alerted, "we knew that communication with the mariners in the Gulf of Mexico was going to be critical," Gross said.

The mission intensified.

About 20 miles south of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, the crew of bulk carrier CRINIS was scanning the water, the Coast Guard said Friday in a news release.

Then, around 8:25 p.m., they spotted something.

'Unlike anything I've been part of'

It was the man.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew out of New Orleans headed to the spot -- and "hoisted the man onto the helicopter," VanderWeit said.

And he was responsive, USCG Petty Officer Ryan Graves said.

The 28-year-old had fallen overboard, the agency later said.

Rescuers haven't been able to determine how long he was in the water, Gross told "CNN This Morning" -- but it could have been more than 15 hours.

If it was that long, it's "the absolute longest that I've heard about -- and just one of those Thanksgiving miracles," he said.

In his 17-year career, "this case is unlike anything I've been a part of," Gross said. "I think it kind of blows the norm, the normalcy, out of the water here, and really just shows the will to live is something that you need to account for in every search-and-rescue case."

"If not for the alert crew aboard the motor vessel CRINIS, this case could have had a much more difficult ending," he said in the news release. "It took a total team effort from Coast Guard watchstanders, response crews, and our professional maritime partners operating in the Gulf of Mexico to locate the missing individual and get him to safety."

The rescued man was transferred to awaiting emergency medical personnel at New Orleans Lakefront Airport, Graves said.

He's being evaluated at a hospital, Gross said, and was reported in stable condition late Friday morning by the Coast Guard.

Back aboard the Carnival Valor, an announcement Thursday evening over the PA system informed guests there had been a man-overboard incident, Anderson said.

The ship, though, had been released from the search, Anderson recalled hearing, and again was sailing toward Cozumel.

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Body recovered after man jumped overboard on Carnival cruise ship, company says

A body has been recovered late Wednesday after a man jumped overboard from the Carnival Horizon cruise ship, the company told USA TODAY.

"Together with the US Coast Guard, the ship’s crew located and recovered the body of the guest. Carnival’s Care team is providing assistance to his family," Carnival said in a statement provided by spokesperson Matt Lupoli.

Earlier Wednesday, the cruise line told USA TODAY that the Carnival Horizon was "conducting a search for a guest who jumped overboard" from Deck 11 around 7 p.m. ET. The incident occurred after the ship departed from Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos at 5 p.m., according to Carnival.

David Custer, a passenger and   a WNEM TV5 News anchor who was onboard the ship that departed on a 6-day cruise from Miami Sunday, told USA TODAY that passengers were informed that camera footage confirmed a person went overboard. 

"Our hearts sank when we heard the initial announcement," Custer said. "We were at dinner and everyone ran to the closest windows. The cruise director made an announcement to confirm a man went overboard and asked anyone who may see someone in the water to immediately report it."

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James Presley, another passenger on the ship, told USA TODAY that immediately after the announcement was made, crew members threw life preservers with attached lights off the stern and port side of the ship. He posted a photo of one of the life preservers on Twitter.

After the announcement was made that the passenger was found, Custer said that "overwhelming sadness" was palpable onboard. 

"Most of the entertainment has been canceled including the main show in the theatre," Custer said. "It’s hard to kick back and have a good time knowing a family on board is dealing with such a tragic loss."

According to CruiseMapper , the ship was sailing near the Turks and Caicos Islands just before 9:00 p.m. and is scheduled to be in the Mexican resort of Cozumel on Thursday.

The ship has been cleared by the Coast Guard to resume its intended course, according to Carnival.

If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) any time of day or night or chat online.

Coast Guard searches for man missing from Louisiana cruise ship

Surveillance video on a Carnival cruise ship from which a 28-year-old man went missing shows him jumping from a deck early Monday, a spokesman for the cruise line said Tuesday.

The Coast Guard is searching for Tyler Barnett, who went missing Monday morning from the Carnival Glory, which is bound for Montego Bay, Jamaica. Barnett, of Houma, Louisiana, the father of twin girls, was reported missing that afternoon, and the Coast Guard sent two aircraft to search, following the ship’s track toward Jamaica, it said.

Matt Lupoli, Carnival’s senior manager of public relations, said video appears to show the missing passenger jumping overboard.

“After multiple reviews of the shipboard surveillance video, it appears that the guest reported missing on Monday jumped from the ship’s Deck 4 at approximately 1:40 a.m. on Monday,” he said.

“He can be seen climbing on a lifeboat and jumping from there,” Lupoli said.

The Coast Guard has been informed of the video and has been able to narrow its search effort, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jose Hernandez said. The search had been over a 200-mile area.

The more specific location also means the Coast Guard has been able to launch an HC-130 plane and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, he said. The search is 30 miles southwest of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, the Coast Guard said.

The Carnival Glory left Louisiana for Montego Bay and is due to arrive Wednesday, the cruise line said.

Tyler Barnett's sister, Destiny Barnett, and 13 other relatives were also on the cruise.

"It makes you feel crazy to be stuck on a ship where everyone else is having a good time," Destiny Barnett said. "It was supposed to be a vacation, but for us, it's hell."

The cruise is also scheduled to stop at Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel, Mexico, before it returns to New Orleans on Sunday, according to its itinerary .

Destiny Barnett said her brother's card was last used at his cabin door. His cellphone was in his room, and his bed had not been slept in.

Barnett's grandmother Dirlean Tate Mason, who is not on the cruise, is anxiously waiting for news. She said that Tyler Barnett works on the river barges in Louisiana and that she does not think he would try to take his own life. “He loves his girls,” she said.

"I just want answers, and I'm holding out for hope," she said.

The Coast Guard issued broadcasts notifying mariners in the Gulf of Mexico that a person may have fallen overboard, a spokesman said.

In a post on X, the Coast Guard said search efforts were paused Monday night because of dangerous weather conditions, including rough seas and strong winds. It said it would launch more search assets as soon as conditions allowed.

According to d ata from the cruise industry consultancy firm GP Wild, there were 212 man overboard incidents on cruise ships from 2009 to 2019. Forty-eight of those passengers were rescued.

In April, Coast Guard crews suspended a search for an Australian passenger who fell off a cruise off Hawaii after a three-day search yielded no results.

Natalie Kainz is a news associate for NBC News.

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.

Watch CBS News

Man jumps from Carnival Cruise Line ship 55 miles off Florida coast

Updated on: April 18, 2022 / 9:02 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Update: The Coast Guard has suspended their search for the man who went overboard . 

The U.S. Coast Guard was searching for a man who jumped overboard from a cruise ship Saturday as it approached Florida.

The man jumped from the Carnival Cruise Line ship Mardi Gras just after midnight about 55 miles east of Port Canaveral, according to the Coast Guard and Carnival.

The Coast Guard responded with two cutters and an airplane to search for the 43-year-old man. The Mardi Gras and the cruise ship Elation also participated in the search, said Coast Guard spokesman David Micallef.

"The Carnival Care Team is supporting the guest's family. Mardi Gras," said Carnival spokesman Matt Lupoli. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the guest and his family."

Lupoli said the Coast Guard released the ship from the search efforts and it continued to Port Canaveral. It will continue sailing as scheduled.

CBS Miami reported the Mardi Gras is the largest ship ever built for the cruise line. The first cruise ship with an onboard roller coaster, the Mardi Gras is 1,130 feet long, has 21 decks, 2,641 staterooms, and features six themed zones and restaurants from Guy Fieri, Emeril Lagasse, Rudi Sodamin and Shaquille O'Neal.

Last month, a guest jumped overboard from the Carnival Horizon ship that had departed from Miami. That man's body was reportedly found .

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A cruise passenger just went overboard. What happens next?

• In the past three months, at least six passengers have gone overboard on cruise ships. 
• If this happens, you might hear crew use distress signals like "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar."
• Depending on the ship's location, the US Coast Guard will conduct a search and rescue mission. 

"Oscar, Oscar, Oscar" are three words you don't want to hear on a cruise ship.

The maritime distress signal is used by some cruise lines to alert crew members that a person has gone overboard; an unfortunate turn of events that has happened at least six times in the past three months.

While man-overboard incidents are rare , they are a leading cause of death for passengers on cruise ships, according to research conducted by Travis Heggie, a professor at Bowling Green State University who specializes in health and safety risks in the tourism industry.

Based on recent man-overboard incidents, here's what passengers can expect if someone goes overboard during their cruise. Individual incidents and exact procedures followed by cruise lines may vary.

What happens when passenger goes overboard on a cruise ship?

The best-case scenario is that someone on the ship spots the person going overboard and immediately initiates a rescue operation. This was the case in July, when a woman fell off the 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and was rescued by crew members in a dramatic, nearly hour-long rescue .

But if there are no witnesses, it could take hours for the passenger's family or friends to realize they are missing and report the situation to cruise staff.

Once a passenger is reported missing, crew members might announce the person's name over the loudspeaker while conducting an onboard search.

Cruise staff will likely review the ship's security footage to determine if, when, and where a passenger has gone overboard. But in some cases, there is no footage due to blind spots on the ship.

Once crew members learn that a person has gone overboard, they "immediately inform the Coast Guard, stop the ship, and turn around to help find the missing passenger," a spokesperson for the industry trade group Cruise Line International Association told Insider.

"Often, smaller boats that can move at high speeds are deployed from the ship to search for the person," they said.

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Depending on the ship's location, local authorities (such as the Cuban Border Guard) may be put in charge of coordinating search and rescue missions.

If the US Coast Guard is the agency in charge, responders will likely search for the missing passenger from the air and on the water. After 35-year-old Ronnie Peale Jr. fell overboard a Carnival cruise ship in late May, Coast Guard responders searched more than 5,171 square miles for 60 hours.

Unfortunately, most cruise ship man-overboard incidents don't result in a successful rescue, a 2020 study commissioned by CLIA found.

The low recovery rate has prompted debate on whether or not cruise ships should be required to install man-overboard detection systems that automatically alert crew members when a person goes overboard, instead of retroactively checking security footage.

Rules Royal Caribbean has required crew to follow if a person goes overboard

Cruise lines have specific protocols designed for crew to take quick action during man-overboard incidents, the CLIA spokesperson said.

They don't typically publicize these internal company procedures. But a Bahamas Maritime Authority safety report regarding a 2017 incident excerpted portions of Royal Caribbean International's missing person guidelines.

Royal Caribbean International did not respond to multiple requests for comment about whether or not the cruise line has updated its missing person procedures since 2017. The industry blog Cruise Law News first reported on the safety report.

According to the safety report, once a guest or crew member is reported missing to guest services, Royal Caribbean policy requires crew to immediately inform the cruise's main control center, called the bridge, as well as the ship's staff captain and security officer.

The bridge officer must then note the ship's position while the security officer takes steps to locate the missing guest or crew member.

Before the captain can turn the ship around to look for the missing person, they must notify marine operations — a corporate department based in Miami — unless they are responding to a confirmed overboard sighting, the report said.

"The Care Team (Miami) and if necessary, the ship's Medical Unit should be involved to support the family and friends of the missing person," the policy continues, per the report.

Do you work on a cruise ship? Have a tip or story to share? Email this reporter at [email protected]

Watch: Sub taking tourists to see the Titanic goes missing

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Search suspended for Australian man who went overboard from cruise ship on way to Hawaii

US Coast Guard sent a HC-130 Hercules to hunt for man, who was onboard Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas

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The search for an Australian man who went overboard from a cruise ship in a remote area of the Pacific has been called off for the day, after a US Coast Guard plane exhausted its fuel supply.

A passenger went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas before 11pm Tuesday night, local time, two days before it was due to arrive in Honolulu. The ship left Brisbane on 12 April and was about 900km south of Hawaii at the time of the incident.

The ship launched a search and rescue operation which lasted two hours. The US Coast Guard received the report from Royal Caribbean at 1am Hawaii time, and launched a Hercules aircraft at 7am Wednesday which reached the search area at 9am. The US Coast Guard is preparing to resume the search at first light on Thursday morning local time.

Spokesperson for the 14th district coast guard based in Honolulu, Ryan Fisher, said the Hercules was the only asset on the scene conducting a search.

The plane completed five search patterns, which involved tracking drift patterns in the ocean using locator beacons, but was unable to find the man.

With six hours’ of fuel, the plane ended its search at 3pm local time, Fisher said. Search efforts will resume the next morning.

No other aircraft were available to continue the search, including the US navy, who were contacted, Fisher said. The coast guard issued an urgent call to any ships in the area that might be able to help.

Fisher confirmed the Australian went overboard 500 nautical miles (926km) south of Hawaii’s Big Island.

Georgina Thompson , a passenger on board the Quantum of the Seas, said she and her husband were in bed when they heard “Oscar Oscar Oscar” – Royal Caribbean’s emergency code for man overboard .

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Thompson told Nine’s Today Show she and her husband then went out on their deck to see the lights and lifeboats deployed, but at the time didn’t know what was happening.

“The light started searching along the outside of the ship, shining along the outside right down the bottom. We were watching it. It lit up the whole ocean. Well, most of the ocean. But it was very dark.”

“You just knew that something was wrong.”

Thompson said her husband thought the ship had stopped because it hit something, “but then we realised that there was someone overboard.”

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The mood at breakfast the next morning she said was “very sombre”.

Two travel bloggers on board the Quantum of the Seas recounted on Instagram that they felt the ship turning around shortly after 11pm and an announcement was made for passengers to return to their cabins and make sure all their party were accounted for.

They said a final announcement was made at 12.30am that the ship would reopen and passengers could leave their cabins.

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Gale Doyle, another passenger told ABC news she knew the calls of “Oscar Oscar Oscar” meant a person was overboard because she has been cruising extensively.

“Eventually they started calling a person’s name, it was a male. They called the person’s name several times so we assumed this person is the missing person,” Doyle said.

The passengers had received no news about the man the next morning, she said.

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Coast Guard suspends search for man who went overboard on cruise ship

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a 41-year-old man who went overboard on a cruise ship just before Christmas, it said Monday.

The Vision of the Seas was 127 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina, on Saturday night when the incident occurred, the Coast Guard posted on X.

Crew members said they immediately reported it to local authorities, which began a search and rescue mission, according to the ship's operator, Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Coast Guard crews searched more than 1,625 square miles over eight hours, according to the Coast Guard in Charleston.

"Out of privacy for the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share," said a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean.

Passengers were alerted just after 7 p.m. Saturday, when an announcement saying “Oscar, Oscar, Oscar, Starboard” was made over the ship’s loudspeakers, passenger Colin Schappi told NBC News affiliate WCBD in Charleston.

“All the staff made a face at each other,” said Schappi, who was at dinner onboard when the incident happened. “No one knew what was going on at first, then they did another announcement explaining what happened a few minutes later.”

The ship departed Baltimore on Friday and made its first stop in Orlando on Sunday, arriving in the Bimini Islands on Christmas Day, according to the cruise itinerary . Two more stops are planned in the Bahamas before it returns to Maryland.

The eight-day roundtrip was themed "Christmas," according to the cruise line's website.

Last month, a 28-year-old man jumped from a Carnival cruise ship bound for Jamaica. The Coast Guard searched over 5,600 miles, but he was never found.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

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A Man Fell From a Cruise Ship. And Survived.

He treaded water for hours in the Gulf of Mexico, withstanding rain, winds and waves before he was rescued. Others have not been so lucky. What happens when a person goes overboard?

By Maria Cramer

The Carnival Valor had been at sea for only a day when calls came over the loudspeaker asking a certain passenger to please report to customer service.

The man, a 28-year-old American citizen, had been reported missing by his family that morning.

It was Thanksgiving, and the Valor, a 3,756-passenger cruise ship that had left New Orleans the day before, was heading toward Cozumel, Mexico.

Crew members soon began searching passengers’ cabins, said Shant’a Miller White, who was traveling with her husband and family. One employee entered her cousin’s cabin and said, “We just need to make sure everything is OK.”

“We didn’t know what was going on,” Ms. White, 48, recalled. Then, at dinner, came another announcement: The ship needed to change course to execute a search and rescue operation.

Ms. White pictured the unknown passenger alone in the water and felt sick to her stomach.

“Did they fall to the bottom? Did the sharks get them?” Ms. White recalled thinking. She began to pray.

The passenger, according to the Coast Guard, turned out to be James Grimes, 28, who had been traveling with his parents and siblings on the five-day cruise. His family had last seen him the night before, around 11 p.m.

But by 10:45 on Thanksgiving morning, when there was no sign of him, the family notified the crew, the Coast Guard said.

At 8:10 p.m., more than nine hours after his family reported him missing, a passing tanker spotted the man near the mouth of the Mississippi River and alerted the Coast Guard.

Rescuers found Mr. Grimes struggling in the water, waving frantically and trying to keep his head above the surface.

When the crew of the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter lifted him out, he was in shock, had mild hypothermia and was extremely dehydrated, said Lt. Seth Gross, who managed the search and rescue operation for the Coast Guard. But he was alive and in stable condition.

Mr. Grimes, whose family described him as an exceptional swimmer, had treaded in 65- to 70-degree water for hours, withstanding rain, 20-knot winds and three- to five-foot waves in the Gulf of Mexico, where bull sharks and blacktip sharks are common, Coast Guard officials said.

“This case is certainly extraordinary,” Lieutenant Gross said. “The survival instinct, the will to survive is just crazy.”

How often does this happen?

Falling from a ship into a vast sea may be a cruise passenger’s worst nightmare. While the chances of going overboard are exceedingly remote, according to statistics from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) , the outcome is usually tragic.

In 2019, 25 people fell overboard, and only nine of them were rescued, according to CLIA.

In February, a woman aboard the Carnival Valor jumped off the 10th deck of the ship while fleeing security officers who were trying to detain her after she had scuffled with them. Her body was never found.

In December 2016, a 22-year-old man fell off the 12th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship after a night of heavy drinking. His parents sued the cruise line in federal court in Florida, but a jury decided in favor of Royal Caribbean.

Alcohol is a factor in at least 11 percent of falls from cruise ships, which often offer all-inclusive drink packages that encourage drinking onboard, said Ross Klein, a professor of social work at Memorial University of Newfoundland, who researches cruise safety.

“Cruises are viewed as idyllic, safe and secure, and of course those views are reinforced by advertising and public statements,” he said. But the public should be aware of the risks of going on a cruise, which include being pushed overboard, going overboard and being tempted to jump overboard, he said.

How do ships prevent people from going overboard?

By law, railings have to be 42 inches tall, Professor Klein said. There were efforts to make the railings taller by about another foot, he said, after Congress began considering legislation to tighten security on ships in 2005. But in 2010, when Congress passed the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, the railing height requirements were set at the current standard, he said.

The railing height is designed to keep passengers safe along ship promenades, said Brian Salerno, the senior vice president for Maritime policy at CLIA.

“The vast majority of cases are either reckless behavior or some form of intentional act,” Mr. Salerno said. “People don’t just inadvertently fall over the side of a ship.”

Professor Klein said cruise ships could limit the risks of passengers falling overboard if they limited alcohol consumption, increased railing heights and installed technology that senses when a heavy object has fallen from the ship.

The 2010 law directed cruise ships to begin developing and installing such technology, Mr. Salerno said.

It took years to create a video-surveillance system that would be sensitive enough to detect a person falling overboard and alarm a ship’s crew but that wouldn’t be triggered by other objects, like a sea gull flying by, he said. Some ships have already begun installing such systems, Mr. Salerno said.

Bartenders on cruises are also trained to watch for excessive drinking, said Robert Kritzman, a partner at Clyde & Co., an international law firm in Miami, who advises cruise companies.

“The general policy is the same as anywhere else: Once somebody becomes excessively intoxicated, you stop serving,” he said.

Carnival Corp. said the “only way to go overboard is to purposefully climb up and over the safety barriers.”

“Cruise ships have safety barriers in all public areas that are regulated by U.S. Coast Guard standards that prevent a guest from falling off,” the company said in a statement that thanked the Coast Guard and the mariner who found Mr. Grimes. “Guests should never ever climb up on the rails.”

A spokesman did not respond to follow up questions about the incident or Carnival’s safety protocols.

What happens when the crew learns that a person has gone overboard?

Cruise ships have clear protocols for what to do when a person goes overboard, Mr. Kritzman said.

Once the crew members learn that a person has gone overboard, they immediately inform the Coast Guard, stop the ship and turn around to help find the missing passenger. Often, smaller, fast boats are deployed from the ship to search for the person, Mr. Kritzman said.

The circumstances around the recent fall from the Carnival Valor, including the precise time that Mr. Grimes went overboard, remain unknown. The Coast Guard said it was investigating the incident.

Lieutenant Gross said that after the Coast Guard learned about the missing passenger, it launched a 45-foot patrol boat, a helicopter and a tracker plane to search for him. The Coast Guard set up a search area of more than 7,000 square nautical miles, roughly the size of Massachusetts, he said, and immediately alerted any mariners around the Gulf of Mexico to look for the man.

The Crinis , a bulk carrier, spotted Mr. Grimes about 20 miles south of Southwest Pass, a channel at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Lt. Gross said he called the man’s mother and stepfather to tell them he had been found.

When he told them their son was stable and being treated at a hospital in New Orleans, he heard them cheer and cry.

Ms. White, who lives in Hampton, Va., and runs an anti-bullying organization , said she was flooded with relief when the ship announced that Mr. Grimes had been found alive.

“That was nothing but God that he survived,” she said.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places for a Changed World for 2022.

Maria Cramer is a reporter on the Travel desk. Please send her tips, questions and complaints about traveling, especially on cruises. More about Maria Cramer

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• Cruise News

Man Overboard on Cruise Ship, Search Called Off

Doug Parker

• November 5, 2023

A 41-year-old man went missing after going overboard during the “Headbangers Boat” cruise this weekend on Norwegian Pearl.

Confirmed by Norwegian Cruise Line, the vessel was en route back to Miami from the Bahamas when the incident occurred.

The line issued a statement saying. “On the early morning of Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, Norwegian Pearl was notified that a 41-year-old male guest went overboard while the ship was sailing near the Bahamas on its way to Miami.”

177 miles southeast of Miami

Following the search pattern, the guest went overboard approximately 177 miles southeast east of Miami.

The weather in the area on early Friday morning was choppy, with wind gusts up to 30 knots. The ship searched for nine hours before being released by the US Coast Guard.

The statement went on to read, “The authorities have been notified, and the United States Coast Guard search and rescue operation is underway. The investigation is ongoing, and we will share updates as appropriate. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones during this difficult time.”

Cruise co-host speaks on event

One of the cruise co-hosts, Riki Rachtman, former host of MTV Hangbanger Ball TV show, spoke on the incident during a Facebook Live on Saturday morning.

“Everybody was devastated when we were woken up by the calls, and then they spent nine hours trying to find this person with the Coast Guard. And I get sentimental when I say this, but at about nine o’clock in the morning, they made the announcement that the search was called off. And when that happened, it was devastating, and it hurt everybody when you walked around the ship.”

12 cruise ship passengers overboard in 2023

This was the twelfth man overboard on a cruise ship in 2023, according to the CruiseJunkie website .

Last week, a guest went overboard on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas as it left Barcelona. That guest was found shortly after he went overboard .

This story will be updated when additional details are released.

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Student who fell overboard on cruise ship holiday sent tragic last text to wife

A student is believed to be dead after falling from a cruise ship into the North Sea .

Liam Jones, 23, was on board the MSC Euribia departing from Southampton to enjoy a seven-day holiday in Hamburg, France, Belgium and Amsterdam.

The social work student was last seen on 16 March by his sister after he messaged his wife Sophia Mcphee at home to say he felt sick.

The passenger was confirmed missing by MSC Cruises. Hampshire Police started their investigation once the vessel returned to the UK.

His wife shared her devastation at the sudden loss of her partner.

The 20-year-old from Dundee told the Daily Record: “I feel so lost. He’s just … gone. I’m never going to see him again. I’m devastated.

“I have so many questions, and I’m not getting any answers to what’s happened.”

Ms Mcphee saw her partner for the last time on Thursday 14 March before he made his way from their home to Glasgow to meet his family and board the ship the following day.

“I was first contacted by his sister on Sunday. She said there had been an accident and Liam ‘wasn’t coming back’,” she said. “She then said she had seen CCTV and he’d gone overboard. I’ve not had any contact from anyone since.”

Police confirmed they are still investigating the disappearance.

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said: “Officers boarded the vessel on Friday 22 March following a report that a man had gone overboard.

“The man’s family are aware and police are investigating this on behalf of the coroner.”

A spokesman from MSC Cruises said: “A passenger on board MSC Euribia went overboard on March 16 as the ship was sailing to Hamburg. This was reported to the authorities.

“The police in Southampton boarded the vessel today and investigated on behalf of the coroner. We are deeply saddened by this news and our thoughts are with the family at this very difficult time.

“Out of respect for the family’s privacy, we will refrain from disclosing any additional information.”

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