Cruise ship passenger 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 (24th November’22) evening.
A 28-year-old man who went overboard while on a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard almost 20 hours after he was reported missing. The passenger was found about 20 miles south of Southwest Pass, La.
The guest, according to a representative with Carnival Cruise Line, was at a bar with his sister on the Carnival Valor and left to use the bathroom at around 11 p.m. Wednesday night. He never returned and his sister reported him missing the following day.
Carnival crew searched the ship Thursday, but was unsuccessful, later deciding to retrace the ship's route to find the missing guest. 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 situation.
The U.S. Coast Guard assisted the Carnival crew with search and rescue and told ABC News they found the man in the water shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday. "The Jayhawk aircrew hoisted the man onto the helicopter and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical services at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport," a statement from the Coast Guard read. The passenger was in stable condition as of Friday.
The ship was on its way to Cozumel, a Mexican island in the Caribbean, and was released by the Coast Guard to continue to its destination.
"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.
"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."
Source: ABC News
|
|
|
|
