Man Overboard !!

On Thursday 12th April a 47 year old woman fell overboard !! she was on board the Pacific Dawn which was bound for Brisbane, Australia. Eye witnesses say that she was leaning over the side while vomiting, the waters were rough and she lost her balance and fell over, guests ran to look over and some say they actually seen huge waves just swallow her which resulted in her poor husband collapsing in shock. On lookers said it was the worst thing they have ever seen happen while on a cruise. The ship officers immediately started the search for the woman but Australian maritime authorities decided to end the search on Friday morning after searching throughout the night and into the morning after first light without success. My thoughts are with the woman’s family. This is such a tragic event but is also very rare and shouldn’t put anyone off cruising. Since 2000, reports say roughly 300 people on cruise ships have fallen overboard. There were 17 cases in 2017 and so far in 2018, there have been five.

On a cruise ship, one of the biggest risks isn’t falling off—it’s the spread of contagious viruses like norovirus which can be contracted from the contact with ship railing, bathroom doors, and food buffets.

Please always remember safety first, especially when drinking alcohol !!! Overboard incidents are most commonly reckless or deliberate accidents generally when the guest is under the influence of alcohol , cruise ship bartenders are trained to see when someone has had too much to drink and, like on land, they will stop serving them. Cruise ships also have on-board physicians and security officers to monitor people who might be at risk.

Back in October 2017 MSC Cruises announced the launch of a new intelligent video surveillance system and innovative man overboard detection technology. you can read about it by clicking here