Operation Bright Star – Dying to Cruise?

This is probably not something that you have ever given any thought to when you are booking your cruise or when you are enjoying your cruise with a cocktail in hand but have you ever wondered what happens when a fellow passenger’s number is up whilst on board?

Given that 40 per cent of cruise passengers are over 65, it’s a fairly common problem but what actually happens when someone checks out at sea?

Cruise ships are floating cities. They carry thousands of people from port to port and with so many people on board it’s inevitable that sometimes someone dies.

There are an estimated 200 passenger deaths a year (this excludes people who die going overboard as it is almost impossible to fall from a cruise ship, it is usually passengers intent on suicide or even worse – murder!)

A number of deaths on board are tragic accidents,  in December last year a crew member and two contractors died when fire broke out on Oceania Cruises’ ship Insignia. Five years ago three crew members died when the then Costa Europa collided with a dock in Sharm el Sheikh.

In recent months a number of children have drowned in cruise ship pools, and there has been a case of a peanut allergy related cookie death, however, the majority of people die from age-related illnesses, which is no surprise given the average age of a British cruise passengers is 57, with 40 per cent aged 65 and over, older people are likely to be on longer cruises of three or four months – or even more – so there is a greater chance they will die at sea.

It all starts with an announcement. “Operation Bright Star” signals a medical emergency. “Operation Rising Star” means a passenger has passed away.

The body is zipped into a body bag and placed in the ship’s morgue. Ocean-going ships are legally required to have both body bags and a morgue (they mostly have space for three or four bodies, but it depends on the size of the ship).

According to one cruise line, some ports insist bodies are off-loaded as soon as possible – this is done discreetly using an exit away from the passenger gangway. A death certificate is then issued and the body repatriated to its home country

When I was researching online I found a website dedicated to cruise ship deaths and statistics which is a little bit strange but very interesting!

I think if my time was up I would be quite happy to see my last days at sea on a beautiful ship cruising into the sunset – what about you?