The hunt for a young British tourist who reportedly fell from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship into the Adriatic Sea was concluded after four days. Authorities surmised that the man was unlikely to have survived.
The young man, whose identity has been kept confidential, allegedly fell overboard from the Explorer of the Seas in the wee hours of August 9, 2024. The ship was navigating near the deserted Croatian island of Jabuka, approximately 45 miles west of Split. The incident is believed to have taken place around 4:30 a.m., with the passenger thought to have plummeted from an elevation of around 100 feet. The circumstances leading to the fall remain uncertain.
Immediately after the incident, search and rescue operations, encompassing air and sea resources, were launched. The Croatian Coast Guard and the National Center for Coordination of Search and Rescue at Sea focused their attempts on the waters surrounding the Vis archipelago, an isolated group of islands near the last known location of the man. Despite the high temperature of the sea, optimism for a successful rescue began to dwindle after the first 24 hours.
The Royal Caribbean cruise ship was on a seven-day trip that started in Ravenna, Italy, and included stops in Greece and Croatia. Passengers on board were awakened early in the morning by the sound of alarms and an announcement over the ship’s PA system.
Nicole Bullock, a passenger on the ship, shared her experience on social media platform X, saying, “Woken up on the cruise ship around 3:40 a.m. to the emergency message ‘Oscar Oscar Oscar off the port side.’ Man overboard. Been watching the rescue efforts off my balcony all day, hoping for a positive outcome.”
Despite initial hope that the warm sea temperatures—around 75°F—might aid the man in surviving for a longer period, experts began to voice doubts as time passed. Sanjin Dumanic of the Association of Croatian Sea Captains had said on Monday: “Since the man has been in the sea for over 40 hours, we are already losing hope.
The Explorer of the Seas does not have an advanced man overboard detection system, a feature that some cruise industry professionals deem critical for enhancing safety on large vessels. Cruise Law News reports that this is at least the 414th person to fall overboard from a cruise ship or large ferry in the past 25 years.
This incident has left many passengers and crew members distressed. The ship resumed its voyage after the search was discontinued, although the planned stop in Zadar, Croatia, was scrapped. The Royal Caribbean company has not yet issued an official statement about the incident. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have confirmed their awareness of the situation and their contact with the cruise company, but have not provided further details.
While this is the latest incident, it is not the first time a passenger has fallen from a cruise ship in the region. In 2018, a British woman named Kay Longstaff survived after falling from a Norwegian Cruise Line ship off the Croatian coast and spending 10 hours in the water. However, each incident is unique and survival probabilities vary considerably based on factors such as water temperature, the height of the fall, and the individual’s physical condition.
