Another Man Overboard

[DaisyBa6y]

Terribly sad. I feel sorry for his family and for anyone else who may have seen this event happen.

 

My DH is in the helicopter biz. Years ago a suicidal person booked a Grand Canyon tour. He opened the door and jumped at one of the highest areas of the canyon.

 

That was the first time I ever heard of suicide by helicopter and I always assumed people falling off cruise ships happened by accident. Very sad how some people can be so desperate to leave life.

[GROOVERS]

After this one, and then a few months back, the lady that jumped off the Pearl, it will not surprise me if we see the day "safety nets" are installed to keep these attrocities from happening. Suicides and accidents both, are terrible things to witness, we live in very troubling times...May God be with these people's families and loved ones.

[WeBeGone]

At 1:30 am on Sat morning, I was awakened by the PA announcing "Code Oscar, Code Oscar, starboard". I knew it was a "man overboard" and I immediately said a prayer for whoever it was and their family. We were on the port side but nevertheless got up and looked out. There were many many searchlights scaning the sea. About 45 minutes later the PA came on and it was the Captain. I could hear the anguish in his voice as he announced the man overboard situation and advised pax that they would be feeling sharp turns as the ship went into a search grid. He also advised us that the Coast Guard was coming and that a lifevest with it's locator beacon and be thrown.

 

At 7am, the captain said that the coast guard planes and helicopter were now searching since it was light, as well as 3 other cruise ships, a freighter, and several private fishing boats. The coast guard was coordinating a search pattern. The captain advised that we should prepare for a day at sea as we would not be going to Nassau until the coast guard called off the search.

 

By noon the rumor had spread that a man had jumped from his 10th deck balcony and that it was indeed a suicide. We watched the search efforts and felt sorry for the passengers on the other cruise ships. At 3pm, the captain announced that our ship's part of the recovery operation was over, and that while the coast guard was going to continue searching, we were going to procede to Nassau.

 

We arrived at 5pm, stayed the night and departed for Miami at 4:00 on Sunday. We had missed the NCL private island but it was so windy, I didn't mind. It was amazing though to hear the grumbling that went on and the lack of sympathy some passengers displayed.

 

As we were among the last people to disembark, we saw the widow being escorted off the ship by law enforcement, a NCL rep, and another couple. They bypassed all lines and were taken into a room at the terminal. My heart goes out to the family. I was amazed at how professional, yet caring, all the crew on board were. I hope I never have to be on another cruise where this happens but was heartened at the procedures in place.

[Mooder]

WeBeGone, thanks for sharing your experience. How heart wrenching!! Your account made me feel as though I was on board. Again, my heart goes out to the family.

[arlee]

Why are they're so many "overboards" on NCL? We had a balcony room on a recent sailing on the Dawn and I can't understand how someone could go over, unless they wanted to, or were pushed.

[Arwenmark]

My source (who stated that they had video of him "diving" in) believes he was probably sucked into the propellers.

 

PE

 

That is VERY highly unlikely! It is very hard to get into a position to be pulled into the propellers.

[Planer's Edge]

That is VERY highly unlikely! It is very hard to get into a position to be pulled into the propellers.

 

I think I'll go with what the person I talked to said.

 

PE

[jan6182]

We were on the Pearl when this occured, and therefore, one of the ships to assist. The announcement came over at exactly 8:25 AM, and came into staterooms. That's when we knew it was something serious. The captain had much stress in his voice as well. I was personally not bothered by the delay, as we were supposed to arrive to GSC at 9:00 pm. We sat at the pool and listened intently to the announcements. I had never heard a pool deck get so quiet when a "ding-dong" came over the speaker. Everyone seemed very concerned with the updates, and those I talked to didn't mind delaying our plans. There were many pax on their balconies and pool decks with binoculars. The Pearl was removed from the search (through the Coast Guard) around 12:30.

 

Our tender ticket line began at 1:00. I get there quickly, or so I thought, and got numbers 1249 and 1250. Needless to say, I would have rather continued searching than going to GSC. The private island was unimpressive.

 

I feel very sorry for the family and friends of this man.

[faithn1love]

I've spent the last 4 days searching for an explanation as to how this happened, but admit I don't like what I am reading.

He was a friend of mine.

I saw him on Thursday and he said he was excited to go on the cruise. He was a happy, smart, funny and laid back guy.

I know that I will never know exactly what happened that night and there are only two other people that actually do know, but I am completely unsettled with the idea of him killing himself. I admit that it is hard to believe that someone can actually just fall off the boat, but it's harder to believe that he committed suicide.

 

I think you should all know that the story has changed so much (he fell, dove, refused a life raft, got into a fight with his wife and jumped). He wasn't even married. And now I'm reading that there is video of him diving from a recording that took place on another cruise ship?

 

What's important is that he is in a better place. Every day that we tread this earth is another day of the unknown. We could choke, get into an accident, have a heart attack, lose a loved one. Every day is blind, but the after life is the known. We all know we are going to end up there someday. So Ben's journey in the unknown is over and he can finally rest.

[Elde]

The Pearl was removed from the search (through the Coast Guard) around 12:30.

 

Our tender ticket line began at 1:00. I get there quickly, or so I thought, and got numbers 1249 and 1250. Needless to say, I would have rather continued searching than going to GSC. The private island was unimpressive.

 

In SAR situations, they'll sometimes turn assets away to prevent things from getting too crowded. Most of the time 'many hands make light work', but sometimes all it does it increase the confusion and danger.

 

From my own experience, I think this goes double for searching for a man in the water. A cruise ship is an questionable platform for such a search because of it's height and (relatively) poor maneuverability. When you get several of them maneuvering in a small patch of ocean, the danger of collision goes *way* up both because of proximity and because the crews are distracted and stressed by the search efforts.

 

Now, I'll be the first to admit I don't have all the facts of this specific case, but I'd be willing to bet that the on scene commander had to balance the shrinking odds of finding the victim alive versus the growing odds of an accident among the searchers. He decided that the risks outweighed the benefits. It's not easy by any means to make such a decision, but that's what we the taxpayers pay the coasties to do. They're the professionals.

[Planer's Edge]

And now I'm reading that there is video of him diving from a recording that took place on another cruise ship?

 

 

The video is from the ship that he was on, not from another ship. There are very few places that are not under video surveillance aboard a cruise ship.

 

PE

[EmmasNana]

I am so very sorry for the loss of your friend. I was on this sailing and want you to know that most of the people I came in contact with felt sorrow and compasion for the family and friends. I don't know what the truth is about him going overboard but know that the cruise ships, coast guard, other smaller ships and many of us passengers searched in the ways we could. The captain requested passengers notify someone if they saw anything in the water. My DH and I sat for hours with our binoculars looking for anything we could see. We did see the life ring and reported it as did many others. The captain informed us that they actually threw the life ring in the water to determine drift, helping them to determine where to search.

God bless him, his family and friends.

[Traveller20074]

O no, I just dont understand how somebody can just fall over those railings. And is very suprising that if they saw him fall in, why they couldnt find him, did they get that far away before turing back to locate him. How horrible this is for him and his family.

 

I didn't see anywhere someone could "just fall" off the ship, but on the Pearl I realized if someone really wanted to, all they would have had to do is put a foot on a chair, and "uhmmph" over they'd go. Pretty easy really.

[Traveller20074]

Oh, how tragic. I am so sorry for what you went through. how horrible :(

 

 

I am so very sorry for the loss of your friend. I was on this sailing and want you to know that most of the people I came in contact with felt sorrow and compasion for the family and friends. I don't know what the truth is about him going overboard but know that the cruise ships, coast guard, other smaller ships and many of us passengers searched in the ways we could. The captain requested passengers notify someone if they saw anything in the water. My DH and I sat for hours with our binoculars looking for anything we could see. We did see the life ring and reported it as did many others. The captain informed us that they actually threw the life ring in the water to determine drift, helping them to determine where to search.

God bless him, his family and friends.

[Tobintemp]

Why are they're so many "overboards" on NCL? .

 

There are actually more on Carnival and Royal Caribbean but that could be beacuse they have more ships.

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/Overboard.html

[Traveller20074]

I am 5' 4". The railing on the Pearl was a little below my armpits. I was actually quite surprised (after hearing all the overboad stories from here) that they were as low as they were. A taller person could easily go over if they had a mind to do so. No one can "just fall" though.

 

I cruise all the time and all the overboards causes my friends and family to second guess cruising even when I tell them there is absolutely not way to fall off unless you are sitting and the rail in some way or someone pushes you or you jump. The rails are too high. Sometimes, people do stupid things and they just don't think anything will happen. THe crew can't watch every corner of the ship. A lot of the time they do it from their own balcony where no one sees them sitting out there. What I don't understand is why the post about the incident didn't explain what happened, if the family and friends saw him then surely they know what he was doing. By only posting that he fell overboard, it makes people think it is the cruiselines fault. don't get me wrong I too sympathise with this mans family and wish they could have found him, but on the other hand I wish more was said on how it happened.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

To get sucked into the props they would have to gone down about 25 feet below the water and drifted towards the center. Their really isn't much "suction" towards the surface of the water.

[Planer's Edge]

To get sucked into the props they would have to gone down about 25 feet below the water and drifted towards the center. Their really isn't much "suction" towards the surface of the water.

 

My information came from the Captain of the Pearl. I think he may know what he is talking about.

 

PE

[Arwenmark]

This is from post 25:

Not to disagree with you but when I was on the Disney Magic, with my daughter, a few years ago we went to a Q&A time with the captain. One of the kids asked the captain "If I fell overboard what would kill me first? Hitting the water, getting sucked under the ship and chewed up, or being eaten by sharks? The Captain said that it would probably be none of the above. It would probably be from drowning. Especially if no one saw him fall. They have done many tests, with different dummies, logs, etc. and none of them got sucked under the ship.

 

I think if the Captain of the Pearl told you that he was likely sucked in and chewed up he should not be the captain. First because he does not know what he is talking about and second because he should not be spouting off such info to other people.

[Mooder]

To get sucked into the props they would have to gone down about 25 feet below the water and drifted towards the center. Their really isn't much "suction" towards the surface of the water.

 

My information came from the Captain of the Pearl. I think he may know what he is talking about.

 

PE

 

I'm no expert but it sounds to me as though you could BOTH be right. Diving or jumping from the height he must have, I would think one would easily go 25 feet below the surface.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

My information came from the Captain of the Pearl. I think he may know what he is talking about.

 

PE

 

I still don't believe it :D;)

 

One interesting thing to look at is the professional high divers. How far down into the water do they go after a perfect dive? The odds of him hitting the water that way are very slim. A back flop, side flop or belly flop wouldn't make you go down that far and under the hull of the ship at all very likely.

[Arwenmark]

I still don't believe it :D;)

 

One interesting thing to look at is the professional high divers. How far down into the water do they go after a perfect dive? The odds of him hitting the water that way are very slim. A back flop, side flop or belly flop wouldn't make you go down that far and under the hull of the ship at all very likely.

 

From a 12 meter dive you normally go down about 8 to 10 feet. If you don't use your entry to do a shallow return. Of course that assumes you know how to dive.

 

In Mexico I paid a cliff diver to do a dive and the water was no more then ten feet deep max. not counting all the rocks of course. and It was higher than the 12 meters I used to dive.

[faithn1love]

Thank you for your efforts and compassion.

God Bless you.

[G'ma]

Not really!!!!! You can get just as drunk on the booze provided for by the ship as you can on what you may have been able to smuggle on board.

 

Yes, really!!!

 

If somebody is falling down drunk, any bartender can disable the card and make it impossible to by any further alcoholic beverage until the card is released again.

 

Someone who is drunk on their own booze have no controls at all...and, typical of the type, becomes a problem to themselves and others.

[faithn1love]

The video is from the ship that he was on' date=' not from another ship. There are very few places that are not under video surveillance aboard a cruise ship.

 

PE[/quote']

 

I also read that there are no cameras on balconies for privacy reasons. I feel as though your "source" likes to just gossip. It doesn't matter b/c if there is in fact a "tape" I know that it will never be released to the media etc for a number of reasons.