A 44-year-old woman who went overboard during a Royal Caribbean cruise off the coast of a Greek island was found alive and rescued nearly a day later. The woman, a Salvadoran national , was rescued after spending 20 hours in the water clinging to a lifebuoy, the Hellenic Coast Guard said.
The cargo ship MSC Rossella III assisted in the search for the woman, and found her inside the bright orange lifebuoy in dark waters. After the vessel alerted authorities, a Greek Coast Guard crew arrived, tossed her ropes and eventually pulled her to safety. The passenger, Jey Gonzalez-Diaz, survived, and was later detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
A similar incident took place last year when a man jumped off Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas in San Juan, Puerto Rico , in an attempt to evade nearly $17,000 in gambling debt.
“The local emergency plan was immediately activated, and searches were launched to locate her,” the Coast Guard said, per WBALTV. The woman, whose identity had not been made public, was traveling aboard Odyssey of the Seas as it sailed through the Ionian Sea near the island of Zakynthos on Saturday, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs told USA Today.
The woman told authorities that she jumped off the ship because she “wanted to disembark,” a Coast Guard spokesperson told Agence France-Presse, adding that “she was 20 hours at sea.”, according to reports.
After being rescued, she was taken to the port of Katakolo and brought to a local hospital. Video of the rescue surfacing on social media shows the woman floating in a ring-shaped life preserver. It shows rope being thrown, following which she is pulled onto a cargo boat that was assisting in the search for her.
There, a psychiatric evaluation was ordered by a prosecutor, according to the Hellenic Coast Guard. “Our Care Team is actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time,” the Royal Caribbean Group reportedly said in a statement.
