cruise goes overboard

Overboard cruise passenger spent hours in Gulf of Mexico before he was rescued

A man who went overboard during a holiday cruise in the Gulf of Mexico was rescued after several hours in the water off New Orleans, authorities said Friday.

The 28-year-old, who was not publicly identified, may have been in the water for at least six hours when he was plucked from the sea Thursday. He was rescued about 20 miles south of Louisiana's Southwest Pass, where the Mississippi River meets the coast, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

The man's survival was hailed as unlikely and possibly miraculous given the time he may have been in the water. Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Graves said the man did not have a flotation device, and survival at sea without one is unlikely.

"It makes it more miraculous that we were able to find him conscious and treading water," Graves said.

The cruise ship passenger man was last seen on board the Mexico-bound Carnival Valor about 11 p.m. Wednesday, Graves said.

Coast Guard rescue crews pulled the man to safety six hours after receiving a 2:30 p.m. Thursday report of a passenger overboard, Graves said.

It's not clear how or when the man went overboard. Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement that an accidental fall into the water would be rare and physically challenging.

"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," it said Friday. "Guests should never ever climb up on the rails. The only way to go overboard is to purposefully climb up and over the safety barriers."  

Night video from Coast Guard aircraft appears to show the man struggling in relatively calm but active seas, where his head dipped below the surface with every wave. The agency said in a statement the passenger was "responsive" when the crew on board a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter reached him.

Surface temperatures in the gulf are roughly 70 degrees, Gross said. Data from coastal monitors, buoys and oil platforms collected by federal forecasters and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography measured water temperatures Friday from 63 degrees near the shore at Southwest Pass, to 70 and higher at sea.

Graves noted that in early October even some of the warmest seasonal waters challenged three men who spent 28 hours at sea, 25 miles off the Louisiana coast, after the boat they were using capsized in rough seas.

The water was warm, he said, but the the trio was beset by signs of hypothermia when they were rescued by Coast Guard crews Oct. 9. 

The average October sea temperature near shore at Mobile State Docks, Alabama, is nearly 77 ; it was slightly higher than 62 there Friday, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Experts have suggested survival in water 60 degrees or cooler is not likely after six hours, but warmer water can extend chances of making it. Cold shock, swimming failure, and hypothermia can open the pathways to death, including drowning and cardiac arrest.

Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

Coast Guard rescues man who went overboard on Carnival cruise ship

The guest was reported missing around noon Thursday.

A 28-year-old man who went overboard while on a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard almost 20 hours after he was reported missing.

The guest, according to a representative with Carnival Cruise Line, was at a bar with his sister on the Carnival Valor and left to use the bathroom at around 11 p.m. Wednesday night. He never returned and his sister reported him missing the following day. The Coast Guard received the call at approximately 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

Carnival crew searched the ship Thursday but were unsuccessful, later deciding to retrace the ship's route to find the missing guest.

The U.S. Coast Guard assisted the Carnival crew with search and rescue and told ABC News they found the man in the water shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday. He was rescued approximately 20 hours since he was last seen.

The man was reported to be in stable condition, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday.

MORE: CDC ends COVID-19 program for cruise ships

"The Jayhawk aircrew hoisted the man onto the helicopter and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical services at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport," a statement from the Coast Guard read.

The ship was on its way to Cozumel, a Mexican island in the Caribbean, and was released by the Coast Guard to continue to its destination.

“We are beyond grateful that this case ended with a positive outcome," said Lt. Seth Gross, a Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator. "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. If not for the alert crew aboard the motor vessel Crinis, this case could have had a much more difficult ending.”

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Royal Caribbean cruise passenger goes overboard on Spectrum of the Seas ship

By Aliza Chasan

July 31, 2023 / 5:44 PM EDT / CBS News

A cruise passenger on Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas went overboard Monday while the ship was on the way to Singapore, officials said.

Singapore's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre was notified that a passenger had fallen overboard in the Singapore Strait at about 7:50 a.m. local time, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore . The cruise ship crew coordinated with local authorities for a search and rescue operation. 

Spectrum of the Seas initially berthed in Singapore to support the investigation, but the ship departed around 4:30 p.m. as scheduled, officials said. A navigational safety broadcast was issued to vessels in the Singapore Strait and in port to keep a lookout for the missing person.

The passenger has not been publicly identified. Royal Caribbean's Care team is offering assistance to the passenger's family.

There were 212 "man overboard" incidents on cruise ships with 170 fatalities between 2009 and 2019, according to trade association Cruise Lines International Association. 

A Carnival Elation cruise ship passenger went overboard off the coast of Florida  earlier in July, and in late May, a 35-year-old man went overboard off a Carnival Magic cruise ship about 186 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida. Earlier in May, an 18-year-old from Louisiana went overboard during a sunset cruise in the Bahamas, authorities said. 

• Cruise Ship
• Royal Caribbean

Aliza Chasan is a Digital Content Producer for "60 Minutes" and CBSNews.com. She has previously written for outlets including PIX11 News, The New York Daily News, Inside Edition and DNAinfo. Aliza covers trending news, often focusing on crime and politics.

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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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Man overboard! How easy is it to fall overboard on a cruise ship, and how can you survive?

• Between 2009 and 2019, there were 212 incidents of crew or passengers going overboard from a cruise ship, and only 48 were rescued.

"Man overboard!"

That cry is one of the worst things you can hear while you're on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. It means someone has spotted a passenger or crew member either going over the side of the ship or in the water, and a life is at stake.

In July, the U.S. Coast Guard called off a search after a 30-year-old man was reported missing on Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Elation cruise ship and cruise officials said surveillance video showed him jumping off. Three weeks previous, a 42-year-old woman fell off the 10th deck of the Royal Caribbean International but was rescued by the ship's crew . In May a 35-year-old Carnival Magic passenger went overboard east of Jacksonville and was never found. James Michael Grimes, 29, made national headlines after he survived 20 hours in the Gulf of Mexico last November.

How easy is it to fall overboard on a cruise ship?

It's not easy at all.

All ships have "safety barriers that are regulated by U.S. Coast Guard standards and prevent a guest from falling off," according to Carnival spokesperson Matt Lupoli. Every open deck and balcony is required to have railings "not less than 42 inches from above the cabin deck," according to the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010  (CVSSA), with thick metal or Plexiglas panels underneath to prevent anyone from slipping through.

That's usually about chest height for the average person.

Some cruise lines are adding overboard detection sensors which use thermal cameras and micro radars to detect incidents and alert crew members.

How do people fall off cruise ships?

"I'll stress that people don't just fall over the side," said Brian Salerno, senior vice president of global maritime policy at Cruise Lines International Association, the industry's leading trade group. "There are railings and they're pretty high. It's almost always the result of an intentional act."

Standing on deck chairs, climbing on the railing and other unsafe practices can lead to tragedy.

Alcohol can play a role in overboard incidents, said Michael Winkleman, a maritime attorney with Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A., who has represented travelers in overboard cases. "Usually, it's just people not making smart decisions because they're dramatically overserved and they end up going over," he said.

But security cameras often indicate the jump was intentional, as seems to have been the case with 30-year-old Jaylen Hill in July. Hill was reported missing by family members on the Carnival Elation and the cruise line said surveillance video showed him jumping over the side. The U.S. Coast Guard search was called off about 36 hours later.

Occasionally it's the result of a crime. In January 2018, Lonnie Loren Kocontes , 62, of Safety Harbor, Florida, was sentenced to life in prison for strangling his ex-wife and throwing her body off a cruise ship in the Mediterranean in 2006 in order to inherit more than $1 million.

That same year a Kansas woman died after  falling from the balcony , but it wasn't an accident. Eric Duane Newman, 55, of Topeka,  pleaded guilty in 2019 to second-degree murder  for strangling Tamara Tucker, 50, of Lawson, Missouri, and pushing her off.

What happens when someone goes overboard on a cruise ship?

The ship goes into emergency mode. The bridge will contact the Coast Guard and a search will begin. The ship will stop and the crew will try to pinpoint where and when it happened so they can start a thorough search in that area.

The captain also will notify other ships in the area who are then obligated to help search.

The ship will keep searching until the Coast Guard clears it to continue its voyage to the next port. The Coast Guard will continue searching, widening the radius of the search based on probable locations, conditions and ocean currents, until they feel they're unlikely to find the person.

What should I do if I see someone go overboard on a cruise ship?

If you see someone fall or jump off a cruise ship, immediately throw them a flotation device if there is one nearby. Life buoys and orange life rings are available throughout the ship. Having something to hang onto increases the person's chances of staying afloat and makes them easier to spot.

Shout out or notify a crew member as soon as you can and note the time so the bridge officers can identify the exact position of the ship at that time. Speed is of the essence. A cruise ship travels miles in a few minutes and does not turn around quickly.

Describe the person as best you can, including how fit they appeared, what they were wearing and if they were holding anything that might float, as all those factors will affect likely survival times .

What should I do if I go overboard on a cruise ship?

Don't panic. Find something that floats, if you can. Treading water can be exhausting in the open ocean

"Even a small buoyant device will help you — something you can use with your arms around or your neck over just to help relieve some of the stress if you're not a great swimmer or you're having a hard time staying afloat," survival expert Cat Bigney told The Insider.

Don't drink any salt water and if you're fortunate enough to have any fresh water with you, conserve it. If you can, pull off some clothing and wrap it around your head to avoid the sun.

If there are floating things around you, such as garbage, collect what you can to make yourself easier to spot. The Coast Guard has an increasing radius to search depending on where they think you are, and anything at all you can to do increase your chances can help.

How many people have gone overboard from a cruise ship?

Not very many as compared to the number of passengers over time. Worldwide, as of 2023, 386 cruise and ferry passengers and crew have gone overboard since 2000, according to a list from CruiseJunkie .

Between 2009 and 2019, there were 212 overboard incidents globally involving passengers and crew, according to  statistics compiled for CLIA  by consulting firm G.P. Wild (International) Limited.

Generally speaking, however, cruises are pretty safe. An estimated 20.4 million people took cruises in 2022, according to statistics site Statista , with signs of higher numbers this year.

Do people die when they go overboard?

Not necessarily. It depends on whether the person was conscious when they went over, if they were injured by the fall or impact with the water, how well they can swim or if they have a flotation device, the sea and weather conditions, the water temperature, and how quickly the crew or the Coast Guard can rescue them. There are also the risks from overexposure, hypothermia, dehydration, and predators.

A 42-year-old woman spent an hour in the water after falling from the 10th deck of the Royal Caribbean International in June but was rescued by the ship's crew.

But unless the person was seen going over or spotted immediately, the odds may be against them. If the ship is moving the person may be rapidly swept away and if the location isn't known a single person's head can be extremely difficult to see in the vast, rolling ocean.

How many people are rescued after falling off a cruise ship?

Of the 212 listed as overboard between 2009 and 2019, only 48 people were rescued.

But miracles do happen. In 2018, a cruise ship worker was rescued when another cruise ship spotted him 22 hours after he went overboard northwest of Cuba, long after the Coast Guard had called off the search.

Contributing: Nathan Diller, USA TODAY

A passenger went overboard Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas, the largest operating cruise ship in the world at 18 decks tall and 230,000 tons

• A passenger went overboard the massive Wonder of the Seas cruise ship on Tuesday near Cuba.
• The Royal Caribbean ship is the largest passenger cruise ship currently in service.
• A Coast Guard official told Insider that Cuban authorities are leading the search efforts.

A passenger went overboard the largest cruise ship in the world on Tuesday, a Royal Caribbean spokesperson confirmed to Insider.

The Wonder of the Seas was off the coast of Cuba when the person went overboard, officials told Fox 35 . Passengers posting about the incident on Facebook said the call happened around 7:30 or 8 p.m. on Tuesday night. 

"On August 29, a guest sailing on Wonder of the Seas went overboard," a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean told Insider. "The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities. "

The Royal Caribbean representative said the cruise line had been working with the US Coast Guard.

But a spokesperson with the South Florida branch of the US Coast Guard told Insider that the Cuban Border Guard is responsible for coordinating the search and rescue mission because the overboard incident happened in Cuban territorial seas. The Coast Guard official said the US agency is not currently involved in the case.

The 230,000-ton cruise ship was two days into its seven-day itinerary after it left Port Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday. The ship is currently south of Cuba, according to cruise tracking data.

The Wonder of the Seas had already diverted from its original itinerary to account for Hurricane Idalia, which is pummeling Florida with record-breaking storm surge this week, passengers said.

Cruise industry blog Cruise Hive reported members of the ship's crew spent approximately three hours searching for the passenger before the ship moved on.

The Wonder of the Seas is the largest cruise ship currently sailing passenger voyages. The massive cruise ship measures 1,188 feet in length across 18 decks. The ship can accommodate nearly 7,000 passengers, as well as 2,300 crew members. Another Royal Caribbean ship,  the Icon of the Seas , is set to break the Wonder's record when it starts service in 2024.

Overboard incidents

This is at least the sixth person to go overboard a cruise ship in the past three months.

Related stories

The previous incidents occurred on the cruise ships Carnival Magic , Carnival Elation , Spectrum of the Seas , Emerald Princess , and Mariner of the Seas. Only one of the passengers was successfully rescued.

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.

On average, 19 people go overboard on cruise ships every year — of those, about four people are successfully rescued, a 2020 study commissioned by the industry trade group Cruise Lines International Association found.

The low success rate of man-overboard rescue attempts 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.

In a statement previously shared with Insider, CLIA emphasized that safety and security are a top priority for the industry. "All cruise lines use a variety of measures to maintain a safe environment on board cruise ships, including physical barriers around the periphery of external decks and balconies, video surveillance systems in public areas, and trained crew members who can respond quickly to an unsafe situation or emergency," the spokesperson said.

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Breaking news, passenger goes overboard on wonder of the seas, world’s largest cruise ship.

A passenger has gone overboard on Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, while it was off the coast of Cuba during a voyage from Florida.

The unidentified guest went off the 230,000-ton vessel late Tuesday, the second day of its seven-day sailing from Port Canaveral, Florida, Royal Caribbean said.

“The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities,” the company said.

The company told Insider it had been working with the US Coast Guard, but an agency spokesperson told the outlet that Cuban authorities are in charge of the effort because the incident occurred in their territorial waters.

Passengers on the mammoth ship said it had already diverted from its original itinerary due to Hurricane Idalia, according to the outlet.

They reported an “Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!” call, signifying an overboard emergency, about 9 p.m. EDT, industry blog ​ Cruise Hive reported .

The crew spent about three hours searching the waters using spotlights, small craft and watchers after the ship turned around and retraced its route, according to the site.

The Wonder of the Seas, which is 1,188 feet long and features 18 decks, can accommodate nearly 7,000 passengers and 2,300 crew members. Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas is set to break the Wonder’s record when it begins service next year, Insider reported.

Earlier this month, an Indian woman died after she apparently jumped off the Spectrum of the Seas, another Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

Reeta Sahani, 64, was declared missing after her husband, Jakesh Sahani, 70, woke up in the middle of the night and noticed she was not in their cabin. Her family later confirmed that she had died.

In June, a 42-year-old woman was rescued after she fell off Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas about 25 miles south of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic during a trip from Florida.

Other recent incidents occurred on the cruise ships Carnival Magic, Carnival Elation and Emerald Princess. 

On average, 19 people go overboard on cruise ships each year — and of those, only about four are rescued, Insider reported, citing a 2020 study commissioned by the industry trade group Cruise Lines International Association.

The low success rate has sparked discussions about whether all cruise ships should be equipped with detection devices that automatically alert the crew when someone goes overboard.

“All cruise lines use a variety of measures to maintain a safe environment on board cruise ships, including physical barriers around the periphery of external decks and balconies, video surveillance systems in public areas, and trained crew members who can respond quickly to an unsafe situation or emergency,” a spokesperson for Cruise Lines International Association told Insider.

Man overboard: Cruise ship overboards and how they happen

We've all heard sad news reports of people going overboard on cruises. If you're someone who hasn't cruised before or who isn't familiar with ships, it sounds scary. But is it true? Can you really fall off a cruise ship? What do the authorities do in a cruise ship overboard situation?

Here's everything you need to know about what happens in a "man overboard" situation on a cruise ship and how to make sure it doesn't happen to you.

For more cruise guides, news and tips, sign up for TPG's cruise newsletter .

Is falling off a cruise ship easy?

No. Cruise ships have railings — usually about chest height on the average person — on all open deck areas and cabin balconies. They are placed intentionally to ensure passenger safety.

The only way you risk a fall is if you're standing on furniture to peer over the side or climbing somewhere you're not supposed to. It's not possible for you to trip over a door frame or slip on a wet deck and fall off of a vessel.

Play by the rules and remain in control of your actions, and you don't have to worry about inadvertently falling overboard from a cruise ship.

Related: Are cruises safe? Here's what you need to know about cruise ship security and safety

How does someone go overboard from a cruise ship?

Accidental overboards can happen when cruisers have had too much to drink and climb on top of railings, enter restricted areas or attempt dangerous — and potentially fatal — stunts like climbing from balcony to balcony. One sad story involved a grandfather holding his baby granddaughter up to an open window to see the view and then losing his grip and dropping her.

It's impossible to discuss cruise-ship man-overboard incidents without mentioning that some of them are, in fact, intentional. Some cruisers purposefully jump off cruise ships to commit suicide. Passengers caught up in a physical fight or wishing to do harm could push someone off the ship, though it would take some effort.

Are man overboard situations common on cruise ships?

In many cases, stories of passengers "falling off" of cruise ships make it seem like it's a regular occurrence or that there's a grave risk you could be swept over the side while going about your daily vacation activities. In reality, one or two people go overboard each month out of roughly 2.5 million who cruise during the same time frame.

Between 2009 and 2019, there have been 212 man overboard incidents on cruise ships, according to a Report on Operational Incidents issued by the Cruise Lines International Association. That works out to roughly 19 overboards each year.

Cases of people falling off ships are also on the decline. "From 2009 to 2019, man overboard incidents have declined with an incidence of 0.00004 overboard reports per active lower berth (synonymous with a cabin's bed) in 2019," reports CLIA. "This is 64% of the figure recorded in 2009."

Related: 15 cruise ship rules you shouldn't break

What happens when someone falls off a cruise ship?

When it's determined that someone has gone over the side, the bridge — the ship's control center — will contact the coast guard, and a search will begin.

Officers will attempt to pinpoint when and where the incident happened, allowing the search to cover a particular radius where the individual is predicted to be. The search will be called off after either the passenger is found or the ship is cleared by the coast guard to continue its voyage.

If your ship is involved in a search for a missing passenger, it might have to skip a port call or delay its return home to account for the time spent retracing its route to look for the person overboard.

What should you do if you see a cruise ship overboard?

If you witness someone falling off a cruise ship, throw them a life buoy or other flotation device if you're near one. You can often find orange life rings attached to deck railings.

It's crucial to then alert a crew member that you witnessed a man overboard and have the crew alert the bridge. Note the time the overboard occurred. With this information, the bridge officers can identify the exact position of the ship at that time, so it can return to that location to search for the missing guest.

Related: 6 cruise mistakes that will ruin your vacation in an instant

Can you survive going overboard from a cruise ship?

Unfortunately, it's rare that a passenger is found alive. A Carnival cruiser who fell off a ship over Thanksgiving 2022 made headlines when he was rescued after spending close to 20 hours in the Gulf of Mexico. He was lucky because his positive outcome is not common.

Overboards are particularly grim when the ship is moving, as the vessel's speed and current mean that a person can be swept away quickly. If they aren't immediately seen, it can be a while before the captain realizes what has happened.

Chances of survival vary, depending on the circumstances of the fall. A passenger could be injured if they hit part of the ship as they fall. Should they survive the fall, water temperature also plays a significant role in how long a person can remain alive. You have a better chance of waiting out a rescue in the warm Caribbean sea than in chilly Alaskan waters.

Of the 212 overboard incidents mentioned earlier, 48 of those (roughly 28%) were rescued alive, CLIA reports. That amounts to four or five rescues each year.

Any time an overboard occurs, cruise lines offer assistance to friends, family or other travel companions traveling with the passenger in question.

Bottom line

If you stick to the areas where you're allowed to be as a passenger, you don't have to worry about falling overboard on a cruise.

Always pay attention to safety messages and signage that indicates which parts of the ship are meant for crew only, and drink alcohol responsibly.

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6 cruise passengers have gone overboard in 3 months. Here's why most ships still don't use detection tech for rescues.

• An average of 19 people go overboard on cruise ships every year, industry data has found.
• Since 2010, cruise ships have been required to install technology to help prevent overboard deaths.
• But the US Coast Guard isn't enforcing the requirements or inspecting ships for the technology. 

Ronnie Peale Jr. , a 35-year-old from a small town in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, took his first cruise in May 2023 to celebrate his partner's birthday.

On the fifth day of the cruise, Peale went missing.

"By one o'clock I had that gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach," his mother, Linda Peale, told Insider. "He always called me twice a day to check on his dogs."

" He didn't call."

Security footage reviewed by Carnival showed Peale "leaned over the railing of his stateroom balcony and dropped into the water at approximately 4:10 a.m.," a spokesperson for the cruise line said.

At 6:36 p.m. — more than 12 hours after Peale fell overboard — Carnival contacted the Coast Guard, according to the agency. For 60 hours, Coast Guard responders searched 5,171 square miles , an area slightly larger than the state of Connecticut, but did not find his body.

Peale is presumed dead, according to a letter sent to his mother by the Coast Guard, a copy of which was viewed by Insider.

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.

On average, 19 people go overboard on cruise ships every year — of those, about four people are successfully rescued, a 2020 study commissioned by the industry trade group Cruise Lines International Association found.

Less than two months after Peale fell overboard, 30-year-old Jaylen Hill also went overboard a Carnival cruise ship. Hill was last seen at 8 a.m. on Sunday, July 23. The cruise line alerted the Coast Guard at 6:30 p.m. that night, Eric Rodriguez, a petty officer third class, told Insider at the time.

In total, at least five passengers have gone overboard cruise ships this summer, including Hill. The incidents occurred on the cruise ships  Carnival Elation ,  Spectrum of the Seas ,  Emerald Princess ,  Mariner of the Seas , and Wonder of the Seas . Only one of the passengers was successfully rescued .

Locating a missing person among the sprawling labyrinth of bars, restaurants, entertainment venues, pools, and staterooms that make up these floating cities can be frustrating and time-consuming, especially considering the complications of texting and calling at sea.

Even if someone survives the steep fall and avoids the ship's massive propeller or swirling wake, hypothermia can set in within minutes. Unmonitored security footage and inconsistent safety protocols make the chances of survival even more slim.

Experts say the large gaps of time between a person going overboard and the initiation of rescue missions are one of the main reasons why man overboard incidents are so deadly. The longer someone is alone in the open ocean, the lower the chance of recovery, Ross Klein, a cruise industry researcher who has served as an expert witness before Congress, told The Washington Post earlier this year.

"Overboard situations are obviously upsetting events for many — and although they are rare, with the likelihood of an incident at less than 0.000001% — we take our responsibility to provide a safe environment for guests and crew very seriously," a spokesperson for Carnival Corporation said, adding that "it is virtually impossible to fall off a cruise ship without a purposeful action to climb up and over safety rails," which must be at least 42 inches high.

Legislation without regulation

To help prevent overboard fatalities, Congress in 2010 required cruise ships to integrate technology "that can be used for capturing images of passengers or detecting passengers who have fallen overboard, to the extent that such technology is available," as part of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, or CVSSA.

The Coast Guard interprets the statute to mean cruise ships have the option to choose between image-capture systems — like CCTV security cameras — or detection systems, which use technology like thermal cameras and radar to alert crew of someone falling overboard in real time, a spokesperson for the agency told Insider. This gives cruise companies the flexibility to decide which type of technology they use.

But the law's vague language opens it up to a second interpretation, which some experts say was the original intent of Congress: that cruise ships are allowed to use image capture technology like CCTV cameras to fulfill the CVSSA until reliable man overboard detection technology becomes available.

But the Coast Guard, the agency tasked with ensuring cruise ships comply with the law, does not enforce either requirement because the rulemaking process it first began eight years ago is not yet finished, a Coast Guard spokesperson told Insider. That means for the 10-plus years the CVSSA has been law, the Coast Guard hasn't inspected cruise ships for any MOB technology , cameras or otherwise, the spokesperson confirmed.

Nor does the agency regulate or set standards for the technology cruise ships should use to detect passengers who have fallen overboard, the spokesperson said. However, the Coast Guard does examine cruise ships to ensure they "have adequate procedures in place to recover a man overboard in a satisfactory manner," they added.

"I think many of us don't realize that about any law," Jamie Barnett, the president of the International Cruise Victims Association, told Insider. "It doesn't just get passed and then happen — it takes oversight. It takes people paying attention to make sure that it happens."

Most cruise ships rely on security cameras to spot people who've gone overboard

All Cruise Line International Association members comply with the requirements in the CVSSA, with most ships opting for technology that is capable of capturing images of people falling overboard, a CLIA spokesperson told Insider.

But victims' advocates say security cameras on their own aren't an effective way to prevent man-overboard fatalities because they are not constantly monitored. And since cameras don't always capture every area of the ship, sometimes there's no footage at all.

After 29-year-old James Michael Grimes went overboard a Carnival cruise ship in November 2022, his stepsister was informed by a security officer that they had footage of Grimes leaving the bar, but not of him going overboard, she told USA Today . A Carnival spokesperson told the outlet at the time that cameras "may not have 100% visibility" on some areas of its ships.

When a Royal Caribbean crew member went overboard the Vision of the Seas in 2017, a Bahamian marine safety investigation determined a "clear view of crewmember jumping overboard was not detected as the area was not covered by CCTV (blind area)."

In a statement shared with Insider, CLIA emphasized that safety and security are a top priority for the industry.

"All cruise lines use a variety of measures to maintain a safe environment on board cruise ships, including physical barriers around the periphery of external decks and balconies, video surveillance systems in public areas, and trained crew members who can respond quickly to an unsafe situation or emergency," the spokesperson said.

Automatic detection systems are still being tested to meet international standards

The cruise industry, which says it's been testing man-overboard, or MOB, detection systems since as early as 2006, says that technology that senses someone going overboard and alerts crew members in real time is not yet reliable in marine environments nor widely commercially available.

In 2017, the Coast Guard said three providers had demonstrated "initial feasibility," but it recommended waiting to pass further regulations until an international standard was developed so as to not "add burden to industry and business processes."

Since then, the International Standardization Organization has developed technical requirements for systems to detect a person who has gone overboard from a ship. The standards, created with input from the Coast Guard and cruise industry, were published in 2020 , but a Coast Guard spokesperson said it's not aware of any products that currently meet them.

Marss, a global-technology company, said it has created a product, called MOBtronic, that is on track to meet international standards by the beginning of 2024. The system completed 120 tests with a 100% success rate, the company said, and would cost about $500,000 per ship to install.

Mike Collier, a program lead for MOBtronic, said the technology is already installed on one major cruise line's entire fleet, though he declined to specify which.

CLIA said once certified detection systems are available, it may take several years to see a significant uptake in the new technology due to limited shipyard and product availability.

A spokesperson for Carnival Corporation said that "despite the claims by manufacturers and their salespeople, these systems are still unreliable, as was the case when our company piloted some of the proposed technologies." MOB-detection technology does not prevent someone from climbing over the safety rails or jumping off, Carnival added.

After eight years of regulatory limbo, C ongress wants answers from the Coast Guard

After eight years of regulatory limbo, lawmakers want to know when the Coast Guard will enforce the man overboard technology requirements of the CVSSA and if it will require detection systems on every ship.

In May, four members of Congress, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, sent a letter to the Coast Guard requesting information about the current use of man-overboard technology on cruise ships.

In response , the Coast Guard said it began the rulemaking process that would allow the agency to enforce the requirements back in 2015, but the rule was never finalized because of public comments that "questioned whether man-overboard detection technology was sufficiently reliable or available."

Collier, who was Carnival Corporation's man-overboard-detection expert prior to his role at MOBtronic, said the lack of concrete regulation from the Coast Guard is the reason cruise lines haven't fully committed to installing the technology.

"While there remains no clarity from the regulators, cruise lines will revert to making investment decisions based primarily on revenue generation," he said.

A Coast Guard spokesperson said there are no regulations preventing cruise lines from installing MOB detection systems on their vessels.

The Coast Guard is scheduled to introduce a revised version of the 2015 proposed rule in June 2024, which would clarify definitions, update existing regulations, and create performance standards for implementing the CVSSA.

"The Coast Guard is considering the best approach to address this issue as quickly as practicable," a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Blumenthal has introduced new legislation that he said would ease some of the original act's opacity by requiring cruise ships to install technology that can both capture images of and detect a passenger going overboard, a change CLIA said would be "pre-mature."

"Congress intended the Coast Guard to have — and use — the power to safeguard passengers more effectively by requiring technology that detects people going overboard in real time," he said in a statement shared with Insider. "Legislation would make this authority absolutely clear — and make Coast Guard regulations immune from any future attempts to weaken them."

Loved ones navigate the murky waters of a death at sea

Jennilyn Blosser, Peale's partner, said the most frustrating part about the process was how long it took for Carnival to locate the video footage and confirm that Peale had fallen overboard.

Blosser said her family told customer service around 2 p.m. on Monday, May 29, that they were unable to locate Peale. The employee then checked the group's bar tab and said Peale had recently ordered a drink on deck 10, she said, which led the family to believe he was still on the ship. Blosser said she later found out her cousin ordered the drink, not Peale.

Around 5 p.m., Blosser said she reported Peale missing to customer service a second time after he didn't show up to dinner. Carnival then conducted an onboard search and announced his name over the ship's loudspeaker, she said. The cruise line contacted the Coast Guard at 6:36 p.m.

"I just don't know why it took so long for them to be able to figure it out," she told Insider.

A Carnival spokesperson said the company's internal investigation "gives a different set of facts and sequence of events," but declined to give details citing "respect for his family."

Finding answers didn't get any easier after the Coast Guard suspended its search for Peale, his mother said, adding that the cruise line agreed to show her and her husband the ship's security footage of their son after she hired a lawyer.

When she emailed the Coast Guard questions about the details of the incident, such as what time Carnival viewed the security footage and the condition of the water when Peale fell, a Coast Guard attorney said the only way he could share the requested information was if she submitted a Freedom of Information Act request, according to emails viewed by Insider.

Filing a claim against a cruise line is one of the only ways for family members to obtain information about overboard incidents, Barnett of the ICVA said, adding that some lawyers won't take cases involving cruise ship fatalities because the complexities of maritime law make successful outcomes so rare.

For example, if a cruise passenger dies beyond three nautical miles of US, legal action and compensation is limited by the Death on the High Seas Act, or DOHSA, a federal law enacted in 1920 that allows only financially dependent relatives of the deceased to file a wrongful-death claim for monetary losses. DOHSA does not allow survivors to recover damages for pain and suffering or mental anguish, unlike other wrongful-death cases.

As for the Coast Guard's search-and-rescue missions for cruise passengers who go overboard, American taxpayers are the ones footing the bill , not cruise lines.

"There's no financial consequence when someone goes overboard to the cruise line," Jim Walker, a maritime lawyer who specializes in the cruise industry, told Insider. "So there's not really an incentive that forces them to install the system."

What are cruise ship overboard detection systems and why doesn't every ship have them?

• Cruise ship overboard systems aim to cut down on response time and notify the crew when someone goes overboard.
• Not all cruise ships have the systems yet, but some have installed them.
• Passengers rarely go overboard by accident, one industry expert said.

"Safety in Travel” is a six-part series focusing on the travel safety tools available in different industries, how they can affect the overall experience, and how travelers can make use of them. If you'd like to contribute to our future reporting and share your experience as a source, you can click here to fill out this quick form .

Sherry Boleen got up early to watch the sunrise with her family during a cruise to Mexico over Thanksgiving. But when she arrived at her siblings' cabin on Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Valor ship around 6 a.m., her stepsister said their brother, James Michael Grimes, never came back to the room.

The family was sailing with roughly 20 relatives, so Boleen thought maybe he'd slept in one of their rooms. "He's notorious for just falling asleep anywhere, anytime," Boleen, who is 31 and lives at Fort Benning in Georgia, told USA TODAY. "And so I was like, 'Or he's just asleep on a lawn chair somewhere or whatever.' "

After looking for him around the ship to no avail, she said, she notified the cruise line, which began an hourslong search that ended with the U.S. Coast Guard rescuing 29-year-old Grimes from the water   later that day around 8:30 p.m. after he had gone overboard.

James Michael Grimes spent approximately 20 hours stranded at sea.

Grimes, who was found about 20 miles south of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, told PEOPLE magazine in December that he remembered having some drinks and winning an air-guitar competition before waking up in the water. He did not respond to interview requests from USA TODAY.

While the incident ended with his safe return to shore, it raised questions about cruise ship overboard detection systems – a new technology that aims to cut down on response time and notify the crew as soon as someone goes overboard.

Carnival spokesperson Matt Lupoli told USA TODAY in an email that as soon as the line was notified, "Carnival Valor’s crew immediately searched the ship, retraced the ship's route, and coordinated with U.S. Coast Guard officials."

"During the search, another mariner spotted Mr. Grimes in the ocean and contacted the USCG, and the rescue was made," he said. "We remain greatly appreciative of all the efforts that brought Mr. Grimes to safety."

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What are cruise ship overboard detection systems?

The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010 requires passenger vessels operating in the United States to "integrate technology that can be used for capturing images of passengers or detecting passengers who have fallen overboard, to the extent that such technology is available."

Cruise lines were given an option because when the law was passed, there were no available products that could reliably detect passengers going overboard, according to Brian Salerno, senior vice president of global maritime policy at Cruise Lines International Association, the industry's leading trade group.

"The problem was tuning the technology just right so that you wouldn't be getting false alarms every time a seagull flew by the ship," he said. "It's just human nature, if you have alarms going off constantly, they become less and less important."

In the years since, multiple companies have worked to develop more dependable technology, and CLIA and its member lines worked with the International Organization for Standardization to develop a standard for them.

The standard was finalized around the time the COVID-19 pandemic began, Salerno said, which delayed the process, but some ships have adopted the detection systems.

Boleen said security on board told her that while the Carnival Valor had camera footage from the bar where her brother was last seen, it did not have cameras everywhere because it was an older vessel.

Lupoli said cameras "may not have 100% visibility" in certain places on ships. "We do know that he left a bar on Deck 3, and we later found his clothes and wallet on Deck 6," he said.

In addition to security cameras, Lupoli said, all ships have "safety barriers that are regulated by U.S. Coast Guard standards and prevent a guest from falling off."

How do overboard detection systems work?

Technology company MARSS' MOBtronic system is among those that developed the system for cruises.

The product, which uses thermal cameras and micro radars to detect when someone has gone overboard and can alert crew members, along with other features, is installed on "quite a few" vessels, including one cruise line's entire fleet, according to CEO Johannes Pinl, though he could not name specific lines.

He said he expects the system to receive certification in accordance with the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard within the first half of 2023.

Salerno said that certification will give cruise lines greater confidence in spending money on overboard detection technology. For its part, MOBtronic starts at around $200,000, Pinl said. Typically, between four and 12 sensor stations are mounted on the ship's exterior, depending on its size and design.

"Overall, considering how much a cruise ship costs ... these investments are minor," he said.

How many cruise ships have overboard detection systems?

Salerno declined to name specific lines but said a number of ships have installed the detection technology. "I think we'll start seeing more and more of the detection equipment once the certification process is complete," he said.

He said he expects that at least one manufacturer will receive certification in accordance with the ISO standard this year.

• Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line and MSC Cruises did not answer USA TODAY's questions about whether or not they have the systems installed on their ships and referred inquiries to CLIA.
• Royal Caribbean International and Princess Cruises did not respond to USA TODAY's questions about whether or not they had installed the technology.
• A spokesperson for Disney Cruise Line confirmed the technology is available on its ships, but was unable to share more details.

How many people go overboard on cruise ships?

Between 2009 and 2019, there were 212 overboard incidents globally involving passengers and crew, according to statistics compiled for CLIA by consulting firm G.P. Wild (International) Limited. Only 48 people were rescued.

"I'll stress that people don't just fall over the side," said Salerno. "There are railings and they're pretty high. It's almost always the result of an intentional act."

The CVSSA requires passenger vessels to have rails that are "located not less than 42 inches above the cabin deck." Many cruise ships complied with that even before the law was enacted, according to Cmdr. Jason Kling, Detachment Chief at the U.S. Coast Guard's Cruise Ship National Center of Expertise, which conducts compliance inspections of cruise ships embarking passengers in U.S. ports or embarking U.S. passengers.

Why do people go overboard on cruises?

Alcohol can play a role in overboard incidents, said Michael Winkleman, a maritime attorney with Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A., who has represented travelers in overboard cases. "Usually, it's just people not making smart decisions because they're dramatically overserved and they end up going over," he said.

He noted that cruise lines have procedures in place to prevent overserving passengers, but in instances when a passenger believes the cruise line contributed to their going overboard, Winkleman said, they could bring a lawsuit. Most suits of that kind are resolved with confidential settlements.

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"My advice, which I think applies across the board with cruising, is don't leave your common sense at the port," he said.

Regardless of the cause, Salerno said overboard detection systems are aimed at improving the likelihood of a positive outcome. "The sooner the search can begin, obviously, the better the chance of recovery," he said.

In the search for Boleen's brother, she said she believes the crew could have benefitted from an overboard detection system. "I feel like it just would have saved so much time," she said.

Have you or someone you know had an emergency during a cruise sailing?