Cruise passenger rescued after 20 hours in sea --Greek coast guard

ATHENS — A woman who allegedly jumped off a cruise ship into the Ionian Sea was rescued over the weekend after 20 hours in the water, the Greek coast guard said on Monday.

The incident occurred early on Friday when the Royal Caribbean Cruises ship Odyssey of the Seas was sailing southwest of the island of Zakynthos, the coast guard said.

The 44-year-old Salvadorian woman subsequently told her rescuers she had jumped because "she wanted to disembark," a coast guard spokesperson told AFP.

"She was 20 hours at sea," the officer said.

After an alert went out early on Friday, two coastguard boats and a navy helicopter were dispatched to the area and other nearby ships were rerouted.

The Odyssey of the Seas also joined the search, the officer said.

A passing freighter eventually located the woman, fully conscious, in a lifebuoy early on Saturday and she was picked up by a Greek coast guard patrol boat.

She was taken to the port of Katakolo and then to hospital in the nearby city of Pyrgos for health tests that include a psychiatric evaluation ordered by a local prosecutor, the coastguard officer said. — Agence France-Presse

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