Guest on world's largest cruise ship goes overboard after trip diverted due to hurricane
Topics: US News, Weather, Royal Caribbean
Dominic Smithers
Featured Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Jörg Fuhrmann / Pexels
Topics: US News, Weather, Royal Caribbean
A huge search has been launched after a passenger went overboard on the world's largest cruise ship.
The unnamed guest went missing on Tuesday (29 August) night, just two days into a week-long trip on the Wonder of the Seas.
According to Royal Caribbean, the enormous vessel had left Port Canaveral in Florida and was en route to the Grand Cayman Islands when the incident happened. It was off the coast of Cuba at the time.
In a statement, the travel giant said: "On August 29, a guest sailing on Wonder of the Seas went overboard.
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"The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities."
The ship had to be diverted prior to the passenger's disappearance due to Hurricane Idalia.
UNILAD has contacted Royal Caribbean for comment.
The powerful storm has swept across the southern coast of the US, whipping up gale of around 125mph as it landed near Keaton Beach in Florida at 7.45am yesterday morning (30 August).
Making its way into Georgia, winds reached 90mph before eventually slowing down, the hurricane becoming a tropical storm with speeds of 60mph overnight.
Idalia has left behind it a path of destruction, ripping off roofs and snapping tall trees.
Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk revealed that one man was sadly killed in Valdosta, Georgia, when a tree fell on him while he was trying to clear another out of the road.
A couple of others people, including a sheriff’s deputy, were also injured as a result.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee branded Idalia 'an unprecedented event' due to the fact that there have been no major hurricanes on record to ever have passed through the bay around the Big Bend.
President Joe Biden called the governors of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina yesterday and assured them that they had the full support of his administration.
During a press conference, Biden said that this was clear evidence, if it were needed, of climate change.
He said: "I don't think anybody can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore.
"Just look around. Historic floods. I mean, historic floods. More intense droughts, extreme heat, significant wildfires have caused significant damage.”
It's expected that Idalia could very well hit Bermuda as a tropical storm next week, the country's officials have said.