A man jumped to his death from the Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, near the US coast. (Image: Reuters)
The passenger is an unidentified man and he was initially alive when the crew reached him soon after he jumped overboard.
A passenger died after jumping from the world’s largest cruise ship on the first night of his week-long journey, a report by the New York Post citing the cruise ship crew said.
The unidentified man jumped from Royal Caribbean’s new 1,200-foot-long Icon of the Seas — which can hold 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members — hours after it departed from Florida for Honduras on Sunday morning, the Coast Guard told the newspaper.
“The cruise ship deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man, and brought him back aboard. He was pronounced deceased. Beyond assisting in the search, the US Coast Guard did not have much involvement in this incident,” the Coast Guard was quoted as saying by the New York Post.
Royal Caribbean told The Post: “The ship’s crew immediately notified the US Coast Guard and launched a search and rescue operation. Our Care Team is actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time,” officials from The Royal Caribbean were quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Cruise ship blog CruiseHive said the ship was about 483 kilometres from Port Miami when the incident occurred. The ship paused for about two hours while crew members helped the Coast Guard with the search and rescue mission. The man was initially alive and was brought back on board in critical condition but he succumbed to his injuries.
Passengers on the ship have shared videos of the rescue mission, with some expressing shock that the man was initially found alive. Others posted clips of the rescue boats heading away from the ship to retrieve the passenger.
The Icon of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, embarked on its maiden voyage in January this year. The ship has 20 decks and is nearly the size of four city blocks.
It features a 17,000-square-foot water park with six waterslides and seven pools — including the 40,000-gallon Royal Bay, the largest pool at sea — and Absolute Zero, the largest ice skating rink at sea. There is also a theatre, a carousel, and more than 40 restaurants, bars, and lounges on board.
