This one went over on a P&O ship near Australia. Reports say that he was drunk. Interestingly enough, the ship was able to stop, turn around and rescue him in about 45 minutes.
Cruise ship rescues passenger who jumped
January 13, 2009 - 1:08PM
A man has been rescued after jumping from an Australian cruise ship off Vanuatu.
A spokesman for P&O Cruises Australia said the 22-year-old passenger jumped from the Pacific Dawn about 20 nautical miles off Vila about 5am (AEDT) today.
The man, who had been in a restricted area, was seen by a staff member who raised the alarm. A life buoy and smoke flares were deployed.
He was rescued within 45 minutes after the 70,000-tonne ship made a full turn around.
A P&O spokesman said the boat had been travelling slow enough for the captain to bring the vessel to a stop, before turning it around.
"It was travelling at half-speed, about 12 knots, and able to stop and then use the bow thrusters to turn around, without having to do a Williamson manoeuvre [which would have required the ship to complete a circular loop to turn around],'' he said.
The boat had turned around within 10 minutes of an alarm being sounded to signal that a man had jumped, he said.
As soon as the alarm sounded, crews had also used smoke flares to help pinpoint the man's location in the water, he said.
"The officer of the watch immediately dropped some smoke flares on either side of the bridge,'' he said.
The vessel's GPS coordinates were also locked in.
"As the ship turned, they had someone on the side of the ship eyeing where the smoke was so someone knew where [the man who jumped] was the entire time.''
A rescue boat was lowered into the water and the man was rescued, he said.
The entire operation took about 45 minutes, and occurred in calm conditions, he said.
The man had been assessed by the ship's doctor and will leave the ship in Vila in the interests of his emotional wellbeing, he said.
His family has been contacted.
P&O Cruises will investigate the incident, including reviewing CCTV footage and eyewitness statements.
The ship is berthed at Vila as part of a 10-night cruise from Sydney to the South Pacific.
- Arjun Ramachandran and AAP
Man overboard!..........again!
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