Woman rescued after falling off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship
A woman was rescued after falling out of the 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship near the Dominican Republic. It is unclear whether the woman accidentally fell from the ship or intentionally jumped. (Credit: @matthew_kuhn/LOCAL NEWS X /TMX)
A woman on a cruise vacation had a close call after falling overboard on Sunday, dramatic video footage of the incident showed.
The unidentified woman, 42, was aboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas when she was said to have plummeted into the ocean.
It is not immediately clear what caused the woman to go over the ship’s railing on the 10th deck of the cruise vessel, but the woman was reported to have been in the water up to 45 minutes before being rescued.
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Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas, docked at Port Canaveral, Florida. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The incident took place southeast of the Dominican Republic, according to reports.
Ship staff issued an alert to local authorities, and a search was launched.
“The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and began searching for the guest,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement.
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The company added, “Thankfully, the guest was successfully recovered and was brought on board. Our care team is now offering assistance and support to them and their traveling party.”
The woman was discovered in good health and brought back aboard the Mariner of the Seas by the U.S. Coast Guard.
She received immediate care from the ship’s medical team.
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People wave as Royal Caribbeans Mariner of the seas cruise ship departs from Port Canaveral. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan received a report from the Cruise Ship Mariner of the Seas at approximately 5:44 p.m. Sunday that the ship’s crew had rescued a female passenger, 42, U.S. citizen, who had gone overboard.,” the Coast Guard wrote in a press statement.
The Coast Guard continued, “The cruise ship was transiting approximately 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic when the incident occurred and was en route to Willemstad, Curaçao.”
The Mariner of the Seas launched from Port Canaveral in Florida on June 23 and is expected to arrive back on July 1.
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The trip is set to last eight days and take a route through the southern Caribbean.
While cruise ships have made major advancements in passenger safety, an average of 19 people have fallen overboard per year between 2009 and 2019, according to a report from the Cruise Lines International Association.
Of those who fall overboard, only a small number are rescued.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report.