Cruise Ships Stop if You Fall Overboard – Here’s What Happens

If you are considering going on a cruise, you may have wondered what would happen if someone fell off the ship.

Luckily, it is almost impossible to fall off a cruise ship. There are still people who manage to fall accidentally – usually while doing something silly or dangerous.

Standing on balcony railings or climbing from balcony to balcony is strictly forbidden in the cruise line’s terms and conditions, but some people still do it. Often, there is alcohol involved.

I was on a cruise in 2009 from Miami to the Bahamas when a man jumped from his balcony in the middle of the night. I have experienced the steps mentioned in this article first hand.

Do Cruise Ships Stop if You Fall Overboard?

If a guest on a cruise ship falls overboard, the cruise ship will stop and return to the location of the accident to look for the passenger.

The ship will spend several hours looking for the missing passenger, and other ships may also join in the search.

It can take a cruise ship up to a mile to stop. Then, they must return to where the passenger was reported to have fallen.

The success rate for rescuing people who have fallen overboard stands at around 25%. Many factors affect this of course – including location, time of day, and weather.

How Many People Fall Overboard on Cruise Ships?

On average, around 25 people fall off cruise ships per year. In 2019, 26 people fell overboard, out of the 29 million guests that took a cruise that year.

This makes your chance of falling overboard on a cruise around 1 in 1.4 million.

In 2023, it was reported that around ten guests had fallen off cruise ships.

The table below shows man-overboard incidents recorded per year, compared to the total number of cruise passengers per year. – Source.

Year	Man Overboard Cruise Ship Incidents	Cruise Passengers Per Year
2019	26	29,000,000
2018	25	28,500,000
2017	17	25,800,000
2016	16	24,700,000
2015	27	22,100,000

How do people fall off cruise ships?

The majority of people who fall off cruise ships either do so intentionally or by committing a reckless act.

Railings are built to chest height on every part of the ship, and there have been no incidents of passengers falling off cruise ships due to the negligence of the cruise lines.

Have a look at railings and barriers around cruise ships in the post below:

Are Cruise Ships Really Safe For Kids? (Real Picture Examples of Cruise Ship Decks and Safety Barriers)

The most common ways that passengers fall off cruise ships are as below:

• Intentionally committing suicide
• Passengers under the influence of drink and/or drugs
• Guests climbing from one balcony to another or climbing on top of railings
• Murder – Another guest pushing a person overboard

Accidents

There are a few examples where unexplained accidents have happened, such as a lady who fell off the Pacific Dawn in 2018.

She had reportedly gone onto her balcony to be sick due to the bad weather that the ship was experiencing when she fell overboard.

For more information on the above annual death statistics and examples, check out this post:

Cruise Ship Deaths – Annual Statistics, Causes and Real Examples

The table below shows the man-overboard incidents from 2019.

In total, twenty-six people went overboard from cruise ships in 2019.

Six people were found alive, meaning the success rate was roughly 25% – which is standard.

In 2019, twenty-six people were reported to have gone overboard. Five incidents were caused by guests intentionally jumping. Four incidents involved crew members.

Date	Ship	Incident	Person Survived?
December 31	MSC Orchestra	Jumped Overboard	Yes
December 29	Norwegian Jewel	Unknown	No
November 13	Norwegian Sun	Jumped Overboard	Yes
November 1	Finnmarken	Unknown	No
October 24	Carnival Dream	Unknown	No
October 12	Costa Magica	Unknown	No
September 29	Divina	Unknown	Yes
September 26	Rhapsody Of The Seas	Crew Overboard	No
September 5	Vision Of The Seas	Crew Overboard	No
August 14	Symphony Of The Seas	Unknown	No
August 22	Genting Dream	Unknown	No
August 12	Sun Princess	Unknown	No
August 8	Majestic Princess	Jumped Overboard	No
July 7	Freedom of The Seas	Accidental	No
July 5	MSC Meraviglia	Unknown	No
July 4	Carnival Victory	Crew Overboard	No
June 18	MSC Seaview	Overboard in Port	Yes
June 8	NCL Epic	Unknown	No
May 20	Carnival Fascination	Jumped Overboard	Yes
May 8	Amsterdam	Unknown	No
March 30	Carnival Spirit	Unknown	No
March 18	Mariner Of The Seas	Unknown	Yes
January 24	Majesty Of The Seas	Crew Overboard	No
January 21	Golden Princess	Unknown	No
January 16	Symphony Of The Seas	Jumped Overboard	Yes
January 11	Harmony Of The Seas	Climbing Between Balconies	No

Find out more about the guest when was banned from standing on a cruise ship balcony railing in the video below. Luckily, she didn’t fall off:

What Happens When Somebody Falls Overboard On A Cruise?

Cruise lines have a set of procedures that they must follow in the case of a man overboard incident.

Do Cruise Ships Have Man Overboard (V-MOB) Sensors?

The majority of cruise ships don’t have specific man-overboard sensors, but they are becoming more common.

Thirty cruise ships owned by Carnival and Disney have been fitted with V-MOB sensors. These automatically alert the bridge of a man overboard incident.

There are CCTV cameras on cruise ships, but these are usually used as evidence after the event and are not being consistently monitored.

The below process relies on either a crew member or fellow passenger seeing the person going overboard and raising the alarm.

If a guest goes overboard without anybody seeing them, it may be hours or days before the missing passenger is reported.

By this stage, the cruise line won’t be able to identify where they were at the time of the incident.

The Exact Location Will Be Tracked

The first thing that would happen would be for the crew to track the exact fall location.

It can take a cruise ship multiple miles to come to a stop or a position where it can turn around so being able to know where the passenger went overboard is incredibly important.

Tides and other factors could mean that the passenger is far from their original location by the time the ship returns.

If the guest is still nearby, life floats, and buoys may be thrown overboard.

An Emergency Announcement Will be Made

The ship will usually use an emergency announcement to let the crew members know what has happened. All crew will be trained in what they should do when they hear such an announcement.

The crew on cruise ships regularly complete man-overboard drills, often using dummies to mimic a person’s body.

The cruise line will tell the guests in advance when they are doing drills like this, as seeing a pretend body fall down in front of your balcony can be alarming!

On a cruise, an “Oscar Oscar” callsign means man overboard. This code will be broadcast throughout the ship, and the captain usually makes the announcement.

The broadcast will be made throughout the entire ship, including the cabins.

I was on board the Norwegian Sky when a man jumped off the ship. The “Oscar Oscar” announcement was made in our cabin. It was the middle of the night, so it woke us up, not that we minded, of course!

On this particular cruise, the captain asked for guests on deck to look overboard to see if they could see the missing person.

Guests will rarely be given a lot of information about the incident other than the fact that a person has gone overboard.

Authorities Informed

As soon as possible, the cruise line will contact the closest authorities and the coastguard, who will usually try to help with the rescue.

The coastguard’s response does, of course, depend on where the ship is sailing and how close they are to land at the time of the incident.

The Cruise Ship Will Stop and Turn Around

There are no official figures for how long it takes a cruise ship to stop and it can depend on several factors. Most estimations suggest at least a mile, with many saying further.

Cruise ships usually travel at around 20-30 miles per hour, so it can take some time for the ship to slow down and turn around, but they will do so as soon as possible.

Other Ships Will Join in The Search

One of the things that I remember most about the incident on the Norwegian Sky was that we circled round and round with other cruise ships all day.

I don’t remember exactly which ships were there, but I remember seeing my first Disney cruise ship up close. It was very surreal to see the other ships and know why we were all circling together.

It’s not just cruise ships that will join in the search, if there are any other ships such as ferries or cargo vessels, these will look too.

Small search boats may also help if close to port and planes or helicopters may even be sent to help with the rescue.

The Itinerary May be Changed

If a person falls off of a cruise, there is a very high likelihood that the cruise itinerary will be changed.

Usually, the next port will be cancelled either because the cruise ship is continuing the search or because the search has caused a delay.

We missed visiting NCL’s private Island, Great Stirrup Cay on our cruise. Sadly, the man who went overboard was never found.

Are Guests Entitled To Compensation If A Passenger Falls Overboard?

Guests whose cruise is disrupted by a man overboard incident aren’t usually entitled to any form of compensation. These incidents are beyond the control of the cruise line.

Cruise lines do have councillors on board to speak to guests about the incident if required.

It’s very common for cruise itineraries to change, and it happens for many reasons – not just a man overboard.

Before You Go

To find out more about why your itinerary might be changed and to find out how travel insurance could give you a cash sum for ports missed, check out this post:

Do You Get Compensation For Missed Cruise Ports?

Find out what cruise ships do to avoid bad weather, and how that may impact your cruise here:

5 Ways Cruise Ships Avoid Bad Weather – and How It’ll Affect Your Cruise