Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (2024)

An unidentified guest has gone overboard while cruising onboard the world’s biggest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (1)

Passengers onboard the 7-night sailing reported the incident on social media as the events unfolded on Sunday, May 26, 2024. Icon of the Seas departed the day prior on May 25, 2024 from Miami, Florida for its current voyage. Guests sailing on the brand-new ship were enjoying a day at sea when the man went overboard.

According to online reports, Icon of the Seas was sailing to its first port of call, Roatan (Honduras), when the man went overboard. The ship was reportedly sailing north of Cuba when the man plunged into the Gulf of Mexico, around 300 miles from Miami.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (2)

(Video shared by @davidcanter on X)

The incident allegedly took place in the morning on Sunday, prompting an immediate rescue mission from the vessel. According to guests onboard Icon of the Seas, a small rescue boat was launched from Icon of the Seas to search for the overboard guest.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (3)

(Video shared by @oliveblend to TikTok)

Based on reports from guests onboard, Icon of the Seas' captain made an announcement to guests regarding the overboard incident. Many guests onboard Icon of the Seas were just beginning their mornings when the rescue operation started, with some guests waking up to the captain's unfortunate announcement.

Guests online stated that Icon of the Seas halted its course for approximately two hours to complete the search and rescue mission. Crew members took swift action while the ship maintained its location for the duration of the rescue mission.

Guests onboard Icon of the Seas were then notified by the captain that the man was successfully recovered, with reports that he was in the ship’s medical center receiving immediate care.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (4)

(Video shared by @davidcanter on X)

The current status of the individual is not clear at this time, as reports online are differing. The captain reportedly told guests the overboard man was "recovered" due to the quick actions of the ship's crew members.

Videos surrounding the incident from guests currently onboard Icon of the Seas were shared to social media, namely X and TikTok. Footage shows Icon's rescue crew sailing around the nearby waters in a small boat while attempting to locate the man. One video shows guests on their balconies looking out into the Gulf of Mexico trying to help locate the overboard man.

Notably, videos shared to TikTok and X appear to show fairly calm seas and clear weather when the search and rescue mission took place. Overboard incidents that take place at night or in rough sea conditions are not often successful. In this case, favorable sea conditions could have contributed to a successful recovery mission by the crew members.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (5)

(Video shared by @GenAIChad on X)

Details surrounding the incident are limited to onboard reports from guests and the identity of the guest has not been announced. It is unclear at this time why the male passenger went overboard and Royal Caribbean has not commented on the incident.

According to guests onboard, Icon of the Seas’ itinerary has not been altered due to the unforeseen incident. The ship’s location on CruiseMapper shows the vessel is en route and on-schedule to arrive in Roatan, Honduras on May 27, 2024.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (6)

Overboard incidents are rare, but do happen ocassionally. According to data from the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), guests that go overboard from cruise ships are unlikely to be rescued.

In a publicized report from CLIA regarding operational instances from 2009 to 2019, there were 212 identified overboard incidents from cruise ships for either crew members or passengers. Of these overboard incidents, only 48 (or 28.2%) individuals were successfully rescued. Based on these findings, around 71.8% of people who go overboard from cruise ships are sadly never recovered or located.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (7)

However, the CLIA report also shows an overall decline in overboard incidents throughout the 10-year period. The overboard incident rate decreased 64% from 2009 to 2019, with an incidence rate of 0.00004 overboard reports per active lower berth in 2019.

The report states, “When compared with the growth in capacity in the industry over the study years, man overboard incidents continue on a downward trend.”

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (8)

Additionally, the report states that all overboard incidents are thoroughly investigated to determine cause or motive. According to the CLIA report, “In every case where the cause of the man overboard (MOB) was established following a careful investigation, it was found to be the result of an intentional or reckless act. There were some instances, however, which were impossible to determine a motive.”

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (9)

The operational report also shares that 66% of overboard instances were from passengers while 33% of reported instances involved crew members. This was also based on the 10-year period of operational data from the cruise lines.

While overboard incidents statistically result in unfavorable outcomes, there have been success stories in recent years. For example, a 28-year-old man survived a harrowing fall from a Carnival cruise ship in December 2022. James Grimes went overboard from a Carnival cruise ship and tread water for 20 hours in shark-infested waters. He survived the incident with a stunning rescue, but doesn’t recall why he went overboard.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (10)

Icon of the Seas is currently sailing on a 7-night Western Caribbean & Perfect Day itinerary. The voyage includes two sea days and four port stops: Roatan (Honduras), Costa Maya (Mexico), Cozumel (Mexico) and Perfect Day at CocoCay (Bahamas). The ship was on the second day of its itinerary - a sea day - when the man went overboard.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (11)

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas launched in January 2024 as the world’s largest cruise ship. The massive vessel can hold 5,610 guests at double occupancy capacity, along with 2,350 crew members. This is the first known overboard incident reported for the new Icon of the Seas.

Passenger goes overboard on Icon of the Seas, world’s largest cruise ship (2024)

FAQs

What happened to the man overboard on the Icon of the Seas? ›

The passenger who jumped from the world's largest cruise ship on Sunday fell a staggering 90 feet to his death, sources said – and staff on board knew exactly what had happened practically before he hit the water.

What happened on Icon of the Seas? ›

A man died after jumping from the world's largest cruise ship after the ship pulled out of its Florida port and started on a trip to Honduras, the Coast Guard said.

What is the code for the cruise ship overboard? ›

You might hear "Oscar Oscar Oscar" or "Code Oscar" announced to alert the crew. The code "Mr. Mob" may also be used, MOB being the abbreviation and accepted maritime acronym for man overboard. The cruise ship will then turn around as soon as possible to reach the area where the person landed in the water.

How did Sigmund Ropich fall overboard? ›

Teenager who jumped overboard from Royal Caribbean's ship Wonder OTS identified, search continues. A recent incident on RCI-Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas involved a passenger jumping overboard, identified as 19-year-old Sigmund Ropich by his sister, Savannah Ropich.

Why do so many people fall overboard on cruise ships? ›

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.

How many people survive falling overboard a cruise ship? ›

Despite these cases, overboard incidents are very rare, according to a cruise line trade association. According to a report from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), there were 212 overboard incidents from 2009 to 2019, and only 48 — or 28.2% — of those who fell overboard were successfully rescued.

What does code Mike mean on a cruise ship? ›

Bravo, Alpha Team, Red Party: Different cruise lines have their own alert codes to signal that there's a fire, either onboard the ship or at sea. These are three of them. Alpha, Star Code, Code Mike: Similarly, cruise lines have their own alert codes for medical emergencies, including the above four.

What does code 7 mean on a cruise ship? ›

Code 7. Code 7 is one of the few codes meant for crew and passengers. If you hear a Code 7, it means that everyone aboard the ship must report to their muster stations.

Will a cruise ship stop if someone falls overboard? ›

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.

Did they find the kid that went overboard? ›

Official search attempts for Cameron were called off on May 27, 2023, as the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the US Coast Guard Southeast were unable to locate him in the water.

Is man overboard Based on a true story? ›

Man Overboard: The Counterfeit Resurrection of Phil Champagne is a non-fiction biography and true crime book by author Burl Barer that was released in 1995 by Northwest Publishing. It is the story of Champagne's life after his faked death.

Did Man Overboard break up? ›

The band was signed to Rise Records. They are well known for their motto within the pop punk scene to "Defend Pop Punk". On January 28, 2016, they announced a hiatus on their official website; the hiatus ended on August 2, 2018, when the band announced a 10-year anniversary tour.

How many people are lost at sea on cruise ships each year? ›

Number of People Missing from Cruise Ships

According to statistics, around 200 people have reportedly gone missing on cruise ships since 2000, a figure which equates to about 10 people per year. However, remember, the actual figure could be quite different due to unreported incidents and varying laws on disclosure.

What happened to the cruise ship that tipped over? ›

On 30 June 2014 the Italian Government endorsed Costa's decision to have the vessel dismantled at Genoa by Italian companies Saipem, Mariotti and San Giorgio. On 1 February 2014 a Spanish diver working on the Costa Concordia wreck died after cutting his leg on a sheet of metal.

What happened to the captain of the Sea Diamond? ›

On 21 August 2007, a lawsuit was filed in United States federal court on behalf of the passengers who were aboard the ship when she sank. After six years in the courts, the Sea Diamond captain and an insurance company employee were given 12- and 8-year jail sentences, respectively.

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