Thanks to the quick action of first responders and two Tampa Bay Harbor pilots, a situation that could have easily ended in tragedy got a happy ending.
On January 4, 2025, two people and their dog found themselves caught in a cruise ship’s wake – which ultimately sank their smaller boat and left them clinging to a buoy near Gadsden Point in the Tampa Bay.
It’s unclear which cruise ship was responsible for the disastrous wake, but both Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas were in Florida’s Port Tampa Bay that day.
Michael Stutevoss and Dan Hammer are professional pilots with Tampa Bay Harbor, who were guiding one of the two ships out of the port around sunset when the incident unfolded.
Guests onboard the same ship spotted the duo and their canine companion in distress and notified the crew – but it takes a long time to slow a massive cruise ship.
“Our ship was going very fast when we sighted these people, so by the time we were able to communicate to the crew of the cruise ship and get the ship stopped, we were a good way past the victims in the water,” Hemmer told FOX 13 News.
Acting as quickly as possible, the cruise line deployed its “man overboard” team to search for the stranded boaters while the two pilots contacted the St. Petersburg Sector of the US Coast Guard. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office was also notified.
Shortly after 6 p.m. EST, first responders found the people and their dog clinging onto the buoy about 200 yards away from the debris left behind by their boat.
Watch the moment the stranded boaters were found below:
“Our team’s coordinated response with other agencies led to the successful rescue of two people who desperately needed help. We will continue to work together to protect lives on our waterways,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
The two passengers suffered unspecified injuries – but they were rescued successfully, along with their dog.
The boaters were able to converse with first responders and confirm they were the only ones in need of rescue. They were then taken to a local hospital to receive treatment.
A Dangerous Rescue
When people are stranded in the open water, there is unfortunately, a lot that can go wrong. In this case, certain factors made the speed of the rescue extra important – with time very much of the essence.
First, the time of day made it more difficult to spot the stranded trio – with the lack of light making it feel a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack. There was a chance that rescuers would not find the people at all, or not see them until it was too late to avoid another accident.
“The sun had already set. It was twilight. They were basically like shadows in the water. Though I was on scene looking for them, I was afraid of running them over as well,” Matthew Riley, who was piloting a smaller cargo ship nearby and got involved in the search, told FOX 13 News.
Read Also: From Mishaps to Maydays – Cruise Ship Accidents
Although the weather in Tampa has peaked at a comfortable 73 degrees Fahrenheit thus far in January 2025, the water is still cold enough to lead to hypothermia.
“The water is 64 degrees here. Hypothermia can set in very quickly. Even though we are in Florida, hypothermia can set in,” added Michael Stutevoss, one of the two Tampa Bay Harbor Pilots.
This incident ultimately serves as a grim reminder of how dangerous cruise ships can be to smaller vessels in the wrong circumstances.
Their wakes are particularly dangerous due to their large size and power, which can violently rock – and even capsize – smaller vessels who come too close. And of course, the bigger the cruise ship, the bigger the wake.
The intense rocking caused by the wake may also throw passengers of these smaller vessels off balance or cause injuries to those onboard – which adds to the risk of losing control of their boat while caught in the wake.
Wakes may also extend further than they appear to the naked eye – with more turbulent water hidden beneath the surface that may continue to disturb the depths long after a cruise ship has passed.
