A man is dead after he jumped from the world’s largest cruise ship after it left Florida for a week-long voyage throughout the Caribbean.
Why the man jumped remained a mystery as of Tuesday but the U.S. Coast Guard assisted in the rescue, the New York Post reported.
According to the newspaper, the unidentified man jumped and a rescue boat was deployed and used to bring him back aboard the 20-deck high Icon of the Seas.
The ship left its port in Miami on Saturday en route to Honduras.
Sunday, as the massive vessel was about 30 miles north of Santa Lucia, Cuba, the passenger jumped into the sea.
Cruise Hive, a website dedicated to cruise line news. reported it was initially believed the man was recovering from the jump aboard the ship. However, it was announced the man did not survive his injuries.
Several videos purporting to be from the recovery were shared on the social media platform X.
A friend of mine just shared this video of Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas. A man went overboard this morning about 300 miles from Miami in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico Captain ordered a search & rescue. After two hours it seems the man has been rescued and is alive. pic.twitter.com/XXdqoscWAK
— David Canter (@davidcanter) May 26, 2024
The Coast Guard said in a statement to the Post that the man was pronounced dead and that it had “little involvement” in the recovery.
“The cruise ship deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man and brought him back aboard,” the Coast Guard said. “He was pronounced deceased.”
The Coast Guard added, “Beyond assisting in the search, the US Coast Guard did not have much involvement in this incident.”
Royal Caribbean, which operates the ship, told the Post that after the passenger jumped the Coast Guard was called while it “launched a search and rescue operation.”
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In a statement, Royal Caribbean also said it had been in contact with the passenger’s family.
“Our care team is actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time,” the company said in a statement, according to the Post.
Royal Caribbean added, “For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”
The ship was idle for about two hours during the search operation.
The Icon of the Seas can hold 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members, according to the Post.
