A man aboard the Oasis of the Seas cruise ship went overboard near the Bahamas, and now the U.S. Coast Guard is searching for the man who fell from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
According to USA Today, the 35-year-old Brazilian man reportedly jumped from the ship at some point during the night. The ship was approximately 17 miles east of the Turks and Caicos islands, about 80 miles from the Bahamas, when members of the ship’s crew saw him “intentionally going over the side of the ship.”
The man was on the seventh deck of the massive Oasis of the Seas cruise ship, when crew members saw him jump onto a lifeboat on the boat deck below. The man clung to the side of the life boat for nearly a minute before falling into the ocean. Another passenger captured a video of the entire incident, which took place at approximately 1:00 a.m., and said they weren’t sure why the man decided to jump.
The video was briefly posted to YouTube before it was taken down. In the clip, passengers can be seen looking on as the man clings to the lifeboat. One passenger yells, “Hold on to him, don’t let him go,” while another woman tells everyone to stop yelling because people are trying to help him. The man who jumped overboard appears to look at the ship deck before he falls. The woman says she can see him in the water and yells “He’s there!” She then tells the other passengers to get a lifesaving flotation device to throw over to him. “Throw it over!” she says. The video clip then ends.
Unbelievable footage from aboard Oasis of the Seas where a Brazilian man fell from the 7th deck. Distressing: https://t.co/FkOOgrG2AZ
— Rohan Smith (@Ro_Smith) November 7, 2015
“I’m not sure if they slipped off. I’m not sure exactly what happened. However, just with that information, he fell into the water in the dark,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney said, Local 10 reports. “Those are things we are definitely concerned about.”
While there are not many details leading up to the man going overboard, cruise passenger Logan Cunningham said the man had previously been involved in an argument.
“Basically, this guy was pretty intoxicated, got into a disagreement with a guy, security then got involved to where he jumped on the boat,” Cunningham said.
“Our report was that he jumped on to a lifeboat and subsequently fell into the water, but regardless of how he ended up in the water, we’re concerned right now about just finding him,” Barney said.
The Oasis of the Seas cruise ship sent two smaller boats out to look for the man, who was last seen wearing a pink shirt and white shorts. A Coast Guard helicopter was also dispatched to aide in the search efforts. Barney said a C-130 plane from Clearwater, Florida was sent to start searching, and an MH-60 helicopter was prepared to joined the search in the morning.
35-year-old man overboard from Royal Caribbean’s ‘Oasis of the Seas’ cruise ship off the Bahamas: MIAMI (AP) -… https://t.co/9xp073hg0S
— Bahamas News Links (@dlBahamas) November 6, 2015
“He was spotted by Oasis of the Seas crew members intentionally going over the side of the ship,” Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said in a statement. “A Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched and is currently assisting us with the search. Our care team is providing support to the guest’s family and our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time.”
According to News4Jax, the Oasis of the Seas travels from the Caribbean from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. The ship left for a seven-day trip on Saturday, and is expected to return on Saturday. Royal Caribbean has not released the name of the man at this point. All they have said is that he is from Brazil.
[Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images]