A 44-year-old woman defied all odds in the Ionian Sea after going overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, surviving nearly a day in open water before a cargo vessel spotted her in the dark.
Alarm raised on Friday morning
Trouble began on Friday, October 9, when a woman was reported overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas at about 6am. The Bahamas-flagged ship was sailing from Mykonos to Naples when the woman, a national of El Salvador, fell into the sea 72 nautical miles southwest of Zakynthos. Passengers said crew only realised she was missing after reviewing CCTV footage several hours later, although Royal Caribbean has not confirmed that detail.
Search by sea and air and cargo ship saves the day
Greek authorities activated the local emergency plan, where a Coast Guard rescue boat, patrol vessel, passing ships and an Air Force Super Puma helicopter all joined the hunt. Searchers first came across an overturned light from a ring lifebuoy, which helped guide the operation towards the woman.
It was the Madeira-flagged cargo ship MSC Rossella III, who was already helping with the search, that spotted her alive in the early hours of Saturday, October 10, where the Coast Guard rescue boat then picked her up while she was conscious and took her to Katakolo port.
Timings differ slightly between accounts. Greek reports quoted by passengers say shortly before 1am, while guests relaying the captain’s announcement mention 2am or 2.30am. A 6am fall therefore points to close to 20 hours in the water, well beyond the 12 hours some outlets reported.
Disappointment from guests over missed stop
Reddit threads from passengers paint a picture of a long and anxious day. One guest wrote that “the ship had been searching for about 14 hours by 11pm on Friday before it set off towards Civitavecchia, the port for Rome”.
Good news reached the ship at about 10am on Saturday, when the captain told everyone over the speakers that the woman had been found alive. One experienced cruiser called the outcome “miraculous”, pointing out how tiny a person looks on open sea.
All that time spent searching meant the ship unfortunately skipped its call in Naples. Many guests on Mediterranean sailings fly long-haul to join the ship in Italy, which made the cancelled stop sting for some. One passenger described it as a “once-in-a-lifetime trip, with Naples the stop they were most looking forward to”. Many guests understood the decision, though others were left disappointed.
Hospital treatment and unanswered questions
An EKAB ambulance took her from Katakolo to Pyrgos General Hospital, where she was treated for hypothermia and is in a stable condition. How she ended up in the water is still unconfirmed, some cruise sites say she jumped, but there has been no official confirmation. Royal Caribbean has said it is supporting her loved ones and gave no further details, citing privacy.
Cruise Lines International Association figures show that 212 passengers and crew went overboard between 2009 and 2019, and only 48 of them, or 28.2 per cent, were rescued.