A passenger on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship fell overboard from the 10th deck of the liner into the ocean more than 30 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic — but survived after a dramatic, nearly hourlong rescue.
The chaotic incident, which left other travelers aboard the Mariner of the Seas vessel on pins and needles until the 42-year-old woman, a US citizen, was saved, unfolded Sunday as the ship was bound for the island of Curaçao, according to the US Coast Guard.
Witnesses said cruise-crew members quickly launched a rescue boat to search for the woman, managed to find her, and brought her safely back on board in a roughly 45-minute ordeal.
"The passenger was recovered alive and reported to be in good health, after reportedly falling into the water from 10th deck of the ship," Ricardo Castrodad, a spokesman for the US Coast Guard, told Insider in a statement on Wednesday.
The woman was taken to the cruise ship's medical facility after the incident and later transferred to a hospital in Willemstad, Curaçao, Castrodad said, adding that "no medical evacuation of the passenger was requested by the cruise ship."
—Matt Kuhn (@matthew_kuhn) June 25, 2023
The US Coast Guard, which is investigating the circumstances that led to the passenger going overboard, said that agency watchstanders at Sector San Juan received a report at around 5:45 p.m. Sunday that the ship's crew rescued a woman who went overboard.
"The cruise ship was transiting approximately 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic when the incident occurred and was enroute to Willemstad, Curacao," Castrodad said.
Fellow travelers aboard the 15-deck cruise ship said they watched in horror as they thought the woman would not be found after going overboard.
Cruise ship passenger Matthew Kuhn told Insider that when he saw two empty life preservers in the water, he feared for the worst.
"I thought after that we were going to be here trying to recover a body," Kuhn said, recalling that he thought, "There's no way someone can survive that fall. Like that's a long fall."
—Matt Kuhn (@matthew_kuhn) June 25, 2023
"To go from that to wow they found her, someone's alive" was a whirlwind, Kuhn said. "I can't even describe like just going from like super somber to wow, I can't believe this just happened."
He told Insider that scores of people had taken to their balconies and quickly banded together to try and guide the rescue boat as they scanned the water for signs of the woman.
"Pretty much everyone was on their balcony," said Kuhn. "I think there was a majority of people that saw something [in the water] and that's really where it took over."
Kuhn's wife, Amiee Kuhn, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that people aboard the ship who watched from the balconies erupted in applause when they saw the woman was saved.
"She was sitting up when they brought her back, and the whole ship was cheering, and then they did come on and confirm it was a successful rescue mission," she said.
Royal Caribbean said in a statement to Insider: "The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and began searching for the guest."
"Thankfully, the guest was successfully recovered and was brought on board. Our care team is now offering assistance and support to them and their traveling party. Out of privacy for the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share," Royal Caribbean said.
Falling overboard on a cruise ship does not usually end in a success story.
According to a report from the Cruise Lines International Association, there were 212 overboard incidents from 2009 to 2019, and only 48 — or 28.2% — of those who fell overboard were successfully rescued.
