There is a famous saying that suggests bad things always come in threes – and now there have been three man overboard incidents within three days from three separate cruise lines.
The most recent situation unfolded onboard Carnival Dream on July 9, 2024, when an unidentified crew member fell overboard at approximately 2:30 a.m. local time.
The Dream-class vessel was located about 82 nautical miles northeast of Rio Lagartos, Mexico, at the time the employee entered the water.
The ship, which holds up to 3,646 guests and 1,367 crew members, was on her way from Cozumel, Mexico, to Galveston, Texas, to conclude a 6-day Western Caribbean sailing, which also called on Costa Maya and Belize City.
Quick action was taken to notify the relevant authorities to try to rescue the female crew member once it became clear she was not onboard, but she has since been declared missing at sea.
“Carnival Cruise Line can confirm that a team member on Carnival Dream who did not report to work on Friday is presumed missing at sea. The U.S. and Mexican Coast Guards have been notified and the Carnival Care Team is in contact with her family and supporting colleagues on board,” a Carnival spokesperson told Cruise Hive.
It’s unclear if anyone saw the crew member go overboard, and if her absence was noticed prior to her failure to report to her onboard job later in the morning.
Without immediate action, man overboard incidents can become much more dangerous – as the current may change the person’s location, making it like searching for a needle in a haystack, or the person may have critical injuries depending on where and how they fell.
Carnival Dream Continues Cruising
The U.S. and Mexican Coast Guards were able to assess and manage the situation, while the 130,000-gross ton ship continued to make her way back to her homeport of Galveston for an on-time disembarkation on August 10, 2024.
“Carnival Dream arrived in Galveston as scheduled Saturday morning and is now on her next cruise. Our thoughts remain with our team member, her family and her friends and colleagues on board,” said the Carnival Spokesperson.
She embarked the same day on an 8-day Eastern Caribbean sailing to Key West, Florida; Freeport, Bahamas; Nassau, Bahamas; and Half Moon Cay, Carnival’s private island destination in the Bahamas.
But despite the recent events of the past few days, Carnival Dream’s next guests shouldn’t worry too much about their safety.
Cruise ships are really quite safe, as modern vessels have railings and other measures in place to keep their guests safely on deck – with only around 20-30 man overboard incidents reported annually out of the millions who cruise each year.
Unfortunately, the majority of these man overboard incidents take place after someone felt the need to jump – meaning guests have to intentionally try to end up in the water. However, it’s unclear how this Carnival employee wound up in the ocean.
Read Also: Carnival Crew Member Falls From Ship During Emergency Drill
In the event someone does end up in the water, the crew members have emergency protocols in place to try to achieve the best possible outcome – and the procedures are practiced through regular drills.
Most cruise ships also have security cameras – and many have special infrared cameras that capture body heat – that will sound the alarm if a passenger or crew member goes overboard, even if there are no witnesses around when the incident takes place.
Along with Carnival Dream, crew members onboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Spirit and Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas have had to put their training to use during their own man overboard crises over the past few days.
On August 8, a Taiwanese cruise guest tragically died after falling overboard from Norwegian Spirit while the ship was en route to the port of Keelung (Chilung), Taiwan.
Despite immediately launching lifeboats and coordinating with the local coast guard, the male passenger was not able to be saved and was pronounced dead at the scene.
On August 9 – the same day the Carnival crew member went missing – a passenger onboard Explorer of the Seas fell into the Adriatic Sea, east of the Croatian island of Vis.
The Voyager-class cruise ship turned around to remain at the scene and help with the search, but as of now, the missing guest has not been found.
