Two passengers went overboard a Disney Cruise Line ship on Sunday as they were leaving the Bahamas and were rescued by crew members, according to Disney.
It was not clear what caused the passengers, who appeared to be a man and a young child, to end up in the sea. Several passengers recorded videos of the daytime rescue, showing a bright yellow boat getting launched from the cruise ship toward two bobbing heads that can barely be seen in the dark blue sea.
Disney Cruise Line confirmed the rescue in a statement, but it did not respond to questions about the rescued passengers or how they ended up in the water. Other passengers who witnessed the rescue said on social media that a girl fell overboard and a man, possibly her father, went in after her.
In one video, an adult and a child can be seen with four crew members as the rescue boat is pulled up along the side of the cruise ship.
“We commend our Crew Members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes,” Disney said in its statement. “We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols.”
The ship, Disney Dream, can hold up to 4,000 passengers and had left Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on June 26 for a Bahamas cruise. It returned to Florida as scheduled on Monday morning.
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the navy of the Bahamas, was notified about the rescue and monitored it “until it was under control,” a spokesman, Lieutenant Darius Adams, said in an email.
“The cruise ship was able to deploy its own assets to conduct the rescue at sea,” Lt. Adams said.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it was not involved.
Janice Martin-Asuque, a passenger on the cruise, witnessed the rescue.
In a direct message to The New York Times on Facebook, Ms. Martin-Asuque wrote that she was in a store on the ship around 11:30 a.m. when she heard an announcement about “Mr. M.O.B.,” a term used to indicate “man overboard.”
Ms. Martin-Asuque did not know what the term meant, but a few minutes later, she and her daughter were on Deck 11 and noticed people had crowded around the railings.
Ms. Martin-Asuque recorded a video from the ship of the rescue. In it, the rescue boat crew helps the pair into the boat as it sways and turns with the moving sea.
It is rare for people to fall off a cruise ship, but when they do, they often do not survive.
In 2019, the most recent year data is available, 25 people fell overboard and only nine of them were rescued, according to a Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) report.
Amanda Holpuch covers breaking news and other topics.
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