Passenger was rescued after hours in Gulf waters

[Randy]

A cruise ship passenger was rescued by the Coast Guard after hours in Gulf waters

A 28-year-old man fell overboard from the Carnival Valor cruise ship hours before he was reported missing off of the southeast Louisiana coast. The passenger is in stable condition.

www.npr.org

A cruise ship passenger was rescued by the Coast Guard after hours in Gulf waters​

A cruise ship passenger had been missing for hours before he was rescued from sea waters by the U.S. Coast Guard off of Louisiana's southeast coast on Thursday evening.

The passenger, who officials identified as a 28-year old man, was found about 20 miles south of Southwest Pass, La., after he'd fallen overboard from a Carnival Valor cruise ship on Wednesday evening, the Coast Guard said in a press release.

However, cruise ship officials did not contact the Coast Guard New Orleans Sector to report the missing passenger until 2:30 p.m. local time on Thursday. Hours later, aircrew members of the Coast Guard rescued the passenger at 8:25 p.m. It was a crew aboard the bulk carrier vessel Crinis that had alerted Coast Guard members to the man's location after spotting a person in the water.

In footage released by the Coast Guard, the passenger is lifted from the dark waters and onto a helicopter operated by an aircrew. He was then transported to the New Orleans Lakefront Airport to receive emergency medical attention. The passenger was in stable condition as of Friday.

"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.

Footage from the rescue of the cruise ship passenger last night. Can also be downloaded here: https://t.co/xk0pBnVr1E pic.twitter.com/GK1IXCKlgx
— USCG Heartland (@USCGHeartland) November 25, 2022

​

"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," Gross said. "If not for the alert crew aboard the motor vessel Crinis, this case could have had a much more difficult ending."

 

[Nebulous]

Poor guy, glad they rescued him. I wonder how he fell off the boat in the first place

 

[passenger]

That is one fortunate young man!! Good thing that's warm water!
I hope there were good reasons why the cruise company people waited for a whole day before sounding the alarm.

 

[PGen98]

Lucky, lucky guy!! Could see he was struggling to stay above water there, so glad they found him!

 

[Nebulous]

I hope there were good reasons why the cruise company people waited for a whole day before sounding the alarm.

That kind of irked me too when I was reading the article. Perhaps just negligence?

 

[PGen98]

That kind of irked me too when I was reading the article. Perhaps just negligence?

Absolutely seems to be negligence at a minimum, almost willful negligence.

 

[Nebulous]

Absolutely seems to be negligence at a minimum, almost willful negligence.

I don't think anyone would willfully leave a passenger out in the water for several hours ....unless they had a pre-existing relationship that wasn't a good one

 

[PGen98]

I don't think anyone would willfully leave a passenger out in the water for several hours ....unless they had a pre-existing relationship that wasn't a good one

I would hope not, and admittedly it's hard to keep tabs on everyone on a ship that size, but still...THAT long and no one checked the cameras even?

 

[Nebulous]

I would hope not, and admittedly it's hard to keep tabs on everyone on a ship that size, but still...THAT long and no one checked the cameras even?

I wonder if they even have cameras?

 

[PGen98]

I wonder if they even have cameras?

Agreed, they should, but...who honestly knows!