Authorities said a passenger died after allegedly leaping from the world’s largest cruise ship on Sunday during a journey from Florida to Honduras.
The vessel the man went overboard from was identified as the Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, the U.S. Coast Guard told the New York Post, the outlet reported Tuesday.
“The cruise ship deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man and brought him back aboard. He was pronounced deceased. Beyond assisting in the search, the US Coast Guard did not have much involvement in this incident,” the Coast Guard said.
Photos show the massive ship sitting at a port:
Passenger dead after jumping off the world’s largest cruise ship https://t.co/v5UyUwBqFl pic.twitter.com/k6O9uEbScJ
— New York Post (@nypost) May 28, 2024
The vessel was reportedly about 300 miles away from Miami when the man apparently jumped into the sea, and it stopped for a few hours while crews joined the Coast Guard to perform the search and rescue.
Video footage appears to show one of the yellow and blue rescue boats, with crew members wearing neon colored vests, making its way through the water:
❗⚓🇺🇸 - A tragic incident occurred aboard the world's largest cruise ship, the Icon of the Seas, as a passenger lost their life after jumping overboard.
— 🔥🗞The Informant (@theinformant_x) May 28, 2024
The unidentified man was discovered by a rescue boat dispatched from the ship.
Despite being retrieved and brought back on… pic.twitter.com/gIvaown879
The same X (Twitter) account reports, “The circumstances leading to this unfortunate event remain under investigation.”
Although the person who purportedly jumped was carried back onboard in critical condition, he eventually died of his injuries.
In December 2021, a 15-year-old fell to his death from the balcony of a cruise ship that was on its way back to Miami, according to Breitbart News.
When the incident occurred, officials sounded the “Man Overboard” alarm. But a source reportedly said the young teenager fell from a balcony on Deck 16 before landing on the promenade of Deck 8 below.
In 2022, a man and his sister were enjoying drinks aboard the Carnival Valor cruise ship that was traveling from New Orleans to Cozumel, Mexico, when he left to use the restroom. However, he did not return and his sister reported him missing the following day, which prompted a long search, according to Breitbart News.
“Then at around 8:25 p.m., crew members on the bulk carrier CRINIS spotted the overboard passenger about 20 miles south of the Southwest Pass of Louisiana, and the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from New Orleans was deployed to retrieve the man,” the outlet said.
When crews pulled him from the water, he was responsive but suffering from symptoms of hypothermia, dehydration, and shock.
“The man reportedly did not say how he fell overboard or what time he did,” the report added.
