Tourist recalls sickening moment he learnt fellow cruise ship passenger had fallen overboard
A passenger onboard the Royal Caribbean said he felt 'sick to his stomach' after hearing that someone had fallen from the ship.
On December 23, a call to North Carolina Command Centre was made at 7.17pm, alerting them that a passenger had fallen overboard the Royal Caribbean Visions of the Sea cruise ship.
The 41-year-old passenger - who has not been publicly named yet - had fallen into the Atlantic Ocean over 100 miles away from the Charleston Coast.
The ship was said to be heading for the Bahamas at the time.
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The Coast Guard dispatched a rescue crew after 11 p.m. in a C-130 airplane from Elizabeth City, N.C. to search for the passenger, while another C-130 flying in from Clearwater also helped relieve the crew and continue the search.
Petty officer Vincent Moreno told The Post and Courier on December 24: "We’re just continuing to search. The Coast Guard never stops.
"The holidays don’t affect our hours."
A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean Group also confirmed to the outlet that a guest on its Vision of the Seas cruise ship had went overboard December 23.
“The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and launched a search and rescue mission,” the spokesperson said.
“Out of privacy for the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”
UNILAD has previously reached out to Royal Caribbean Cruises for further comment.
According to the company's website, the Vision Of The Sea ship is 915-foot long by 105-foot wide ship with a total capacity of 2,000 guests and 700 crew members.
And a 21-year-old passenger who was also on the 'Eight Night Bahamas & Perfect Day Holiday Cruise' said that he remembered the moment the captain announced over the speakers that someone had fallen overboard.
Jake Utzinger said to The Post and Courier: “I instantly felt sick to my stomach knowing that one of our fellow travellers had been lost at sea.
“Me and my girlfriend tried to be useful and become an extra pair of eyes during the search.”
"It’s definitely going to be rough continuing this voyage knowing that a family is missing their loved one." he added.
According to Utzinger, the ship then resumed it's journey at around 2am.
While another passenger, Colin Schappi, told WCBD that he knew something was wrong when crew members started shouting at around 7:15pm, adding that they were shouting: "Oscar! Oscar! Oscar! Starboard!."
However, the search mission has since been suspended, according to Count On News 2.
The Coast Guard is reported as having searched for eight hours, covering over 1,625 square miles.
The ship's next port of call is Port Canaveral before it is set to return to Baltimore on December 30.
Topics: News
Chelsea Connor