Everything that happens next after someone falls off of a cruise ship

There are two words in the cruise ship business that put fear and dread in to the minds of the hundreds, if not thousands, of crew members running the vessel.

Code Oscar. It is enough to stop everyone in their tracks and look at another member of crew with a look of 'did they really just say that?'.

Sadly, people do go overboard on a cruise ship.

It's a rare but real thing, and because of the seriousness of the incident, it is something crew have to be incredibly well drilled on when it comes to responding.

First response to someone going overboard on a cruise ship

The first thing likely to happen when someone falls off of a cruise ship is to alert the bridge with a 'man overboard' call, with the bridge then issuing the 'Code Oscar' alert across the ship's tannoy system.

Those reporting the 'man overboard' to staff should give as best details as they can about what they saw, as it could mean the difference between life and death.

Code Oscar sends crew in to action and leaves passengers wondering what just got announced, before quickly Googling themselves to discover the grim meaning behind the phrase and checking to make sure all their loved ones were accounted for.

Sadly, it has been a very real situation this week, with one woman going overboard on the MSC Virtuosa and tragically losing her life.

In the decade between 2009 and 2019, a total of 212 people onboard cruise ships went overboard, according to official industry statistics. Of those who fell, 48 people survived the fall, giving it a mortality rate of more than 75 percent.

For those worrying, don't get yourself too stressed out. The Cruise Lines International Association lists the chances of falling in as incredible low, saying passengers have a 0.00004 percent chance of falling in to the open sea.

A woman recently died after falling from the MSC Virtuosa (Horacio Villalobos-Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Location is key

Officials in the bridge will log the location at which they received the report before stopping the ship as quickly and safely as they can.

It's incredibly time consuming to turn around a cruise ship. And given that someone is treading water in the open sea with no support, time is of the upmost essence.

By logging the location at the time of the man overboard report, such as the coordinates of the ship and where on the ship the person was reported to have fallen from, you get as accurate as a location as you can get for the person's whereabouts.

Cruise ships have high railings and lifebuoys as part of industry standard safety regulations (Getty Stock Images)

The search gets underway

Once the location is logged, the cruise ship will move as fast as it can to turn around and head back to the location it was when the person fell.

In this time, nearby ships will also have been given the coordinates, and move to the area to lend assistance.

Smaller boats on the side of the cruise ship will be lowered in to the ocean to try and find the individual while crew members try and locate them from the top deck.

Providing support

Most people don't venture onto cruise ships alone. Therefore, it is vital that support is given to those travelling with the poor soul who has fallen, most likely family or close friends.

Crew are trained to help the people try and deal best with the situation as it unfolds. Often, they will be given the chance to go home at the next port of call regardless of whether the person has been successfully rescued or not.