Man overboard from Carnival Valor rescued in Gulf of Mexico

The Carnival Valor departed New Orleans late afternoon November 23. The 28-year-old passenger, together with his sister found their way to one of the many of the Valor’s bars. At around 11 PM (2300 hours), he excused himself, as one does when imbibing liquids, a bio-break was required, and he headed towards the restroom. He didn’t return.

His sister didn’t think too much of it, until he didn’t return to his cabin. Noon the next day, Thanksgiving, 24 November, she informed the ship’s crew her brother was missing. The crew went into the missing passenger playbook, starting initially with shipboard announcements asking for the missing passenger to dial into a specific extension. When that did not result in a positive outcome, crew began searching the ship, carrying photos of the missing passenger. That too was futile. After about 2.5 hours of effort, at 2:30PM (1430 hours) the ship declared a man overboard. The problem, they weren’t sure when he went overboard, nor where he went overboard. Apparently the sensors, in place to detect such an incident didn’t activate when the passenger went into the Gulf of Mexico.

The man was fortunate that the Gulf was 70F and mild seas. The Valor looped around and joined the search for their man overboard. The Coast Guard put out a call to all mariners in the 200 square mile area to be on the lookout for a man overboard. The Coast Guard launched ships, planes and helicopters

The crew of the bulk carrier CRINIS scanned the water and spotted something, about 20 miles south of Southwest Pass, Louisiana. This sighting was relayed to the U.S. Coast Guard and a sea rescue was affected by an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew. The passenger was pulled from the water approximately 15 hours after falling into the Gulf.

Cruise Travel? Securely Travel Recommends

When traveling on cruise ships, especially when travel on cruise ships and drinking alcohol, that one needs to be judicious in their actions. We recommend that one should never venture anywhere alone on board. While the vast majority of passengers on board ships have uneventful and delightful holidays the buddy system is always a good idea, most importantly when on open deck.

In this instance we don’t know how the passenger went overboard - did he fall or did he jump? In either case, the buddy system would have allowed for the second person to immediately issue a call for assistance, keep eyes on the individual who went overboard. In this instance, it was hours after he fell overboard that a call to action occurred, resulting in his being in the open water for more than 15 hours.

The sighting and saving of this passenger is nothing short of miraculous given the elapsed time between the probable disappearance and the beginning of the rescue. The video of the Coast Guard rescue (see below) shows a very tired man in the sea, going below the surface with every wave of his arm.

Coast Guard video of the rescue of the passenger

Coast Guard statement

Coast Guard rescues overboard cruise ship passenger near Southwest Pass, Louisiana.

NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard rescued a cruise ship passenger Thursday evening, approximately 20 miles south of Southwest Pass, Louisiana.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a call from the Carnival Valor at approximately 2:30 p.m. Thursday, reporting a passenger aboard the cruise ship was missing. Watchstanders then coordinated the launch of several rescue crews to begin searching.  

At 8:25 p.m., a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew rescued the 28-year-old male who had fallen overboard from the Carnival Valor on Wednesday evening. The aircrew was vectored into the area by the bulk carrier CRINIS who had observed a person in the water. The Jayhawk aircrew hoisted the man onto the helicopter and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical services at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport.

“We are beyond grateful that this case ended with a positive outcome,” said Lt. Seth Gross, a Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator. “It took a total team effort from Coast Guard watchstanders, response crews, and our professional maritime partners operating in the Gulf of Mexico to locate the missing individual and get him to safety. If not for the alert crew aboard the motor vessel Crinis, this case could have had a much more difficult ending.”

The man was last reported in stable condition.

Carnival Valor current itinerary

Man overboard happens more often than we think

Passengers going overboard happens more often than one may think. On October 26, 2022, for example, Dilek Ertek, a wealthy Turkish distributor of Tiffany Jewelry went overboard from the Norwegian Spirit in the South Pacific near French Polynesia.

According to media reports, the ship’s closed circuit TV (CCTV) showed her falling overboard at approximately 3AM on 26 October. She was traveling with her Swiss boyfriend, who reported her missing 20 hours later. The unnamed boyfriend was subsequently questioned by police in Papeete port and allowed to return to Switzerland. Ertek who was 61 inches (5’1″) tall is believed to have fallen over a three-foot high railing on her cabin’s balcony. Erteks’ son Gokce Atuk claimed that jewelry owned by Ertek had gone missing from her cabin’s safe.

Upon learning that Ertek was missing, 20 hours after the event, the ship’s crew organized a fruitless search. Ertek’s body was never recovered.