A man fell overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas ship last night, according to a passenger aboard the cruise ship.
Josh Mackey told of the alleged incident in a series of graphic tweets, which have since been deleted, telling the story of the recovery of the overboard man’s body by a rescue boat.
He states that the person went overboard at around 3am last night, while the cruise ship was travelling from St Kitts to St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
‘Damn some dude went overboard on the cruise ship I’m on,’ he wrote. ‘They just pulled his dead body out of the water. Holy f*ck.’
A second tweet continued, ‘Symphony. I have some short videos of the rescue boat being dropped into the water and also returning back to the ship with the person on it as well.’
The passenger added, ‘rescue boat being lowered into water and other cruise ship also in the area searching across from my ship,’ along with a picture of the alleged rescue.
A video also emerged online, showing the deceased man in the rescue boat. At this stage it’s unknown whether the overboard person was a passenger or crew member.
Royal Caribbean has since issued a statement to Cruise Hive confirming the death of the overboard man.
The statement read:
We are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that occurred on the Symphony of the Seas en route to Saint Thomas this morning. Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones for their loss, and our care team is providing support and assistance during this difficult time.
Upon the initial report that an Australian adult male had gone overboard, our ship immediately turned, launched a rescue boat, and conducted a full-scale search. We are working closely with authorities and will continue to assist in their investigation.
According to Cruise Law News, Royal Caribbean is one of few cruise liners that haven’t installed automatic man overboard systems, which use motion detectors to send and instant message to the bridge if someone goes over the rails.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.
Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.