Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Cruise Ship, Travel
Joe Harker
While the number of people who go overboard on cruise ships is very low, it's still higher than the ideal figure of zero.
Of the millions of people who pay to hop aboard a cruise ship, the number of those who fall overboard is about one or two a month.
Between 2009 and 2019, a total of 212 cruise ship passengers were listed as going overboard, and sadly the survival rate is not great.
Of those 212 people who went into the water only 48 survived, so one of the more common things which happens when someone falls overboard on a cruise ship is that they sadly die.
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A report from the Cruise Lines International Association about people falling overboard between 2009 and 2019 found that passengers had a 0.00004 percent chance of falling from the ship.
While it's unlikely to happen, the crew of ships are well drilled for such an emergency and have certain procedures in place.
The cry of 'man overboard' is actually gender neutral, and is a universally recognised maritime call.
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Whomever sees a person falling overboard should be using that as their shout to try and alert crew members to what's just happened, as time is of the essence.
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If you hear this phrase over the ship's announcement system, then it means someone has gone overboard.
You might hear 'Code Oscar', the word 'Oscar' repeated or hear the crew members talking about 'Mr Mob', which is code for 'man overboard'.
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At this point it's best to get out of the way and let them handle things as the tannoy announcement means it'll be public knowledge.
The seas are vast and often lack distinctive features, while a cruise ship itself can hardly slam the brakes on and end up pretty much where it was.
Stopping a ship or turning it back to where it was takes a lot of time, so instead it's vital for the crew to log the location they were in when they were alerted that someone had gone overboard.
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This will help the search and rescue efforts have a starting point.
From there the ship will turn around and return to the spot it just marked as it's going to be the closest vessel which can respond.
The cruise ship will notify other vessels in the area, which will be required to come and help in the search.
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Meanwhile, the ship's crew will put their training to work and scour the sea for signs of someone going overboard.
The ship will have smaller craft which can be deployed to get over to somebody in the water, and search efforts can last several hours.
Sadly, given the low survival rates involved with people going overboard these rescue efforts are not always successful at locating whomever fell from the ship.
Many people who fall overboard on a cruise ship have got loved ones with them, and counselling will be made available to them.
They will usually be given the chance to leave the cruise at the next available port and can be helped to return home.