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Falling from cruise ships rare, despite recent incidents

Photo provided by Port of Tampa

A 47-year-old Seminole man, leaning over the railing to get a glimpse of an approaching pilot boat, fell into the mouth of Tampa Bay on Monday.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 17, 2009

Updated: 06/17/2009 12:30 pm

Falling overboard usually is not a problem for cruise ships, but Carnival Cruise Lines over the past three weeks have three times reported passengers tumbling from the decks into the Gulf of Mexico, including two this week.

Still, the number of passengers plunging into the drink remains relatively small.

"It's very rare," said Carnival Cruise Line spokesman Vance Gulliksen from his Miami headquarters this week. Out of 3.8 million passengers taking some 1,500 voyages on 22 ships each year, only a few unfortunates have fallen overboard, he said.

A vast majority of the line's voyages are in North America, he said, and most of those are in the Caribbean.

"Our ships are extremely safe and it is virtually impossible for a guest to simply fall off a cruise ship," Gulliksen said. "Carnival Cruise Lines ships have railings that are 44 inches high and surround the entire vessel and there is signage warning guests to stay out of restricted areas."

He said that all of the ships have between 10 and 15 uniformed security officers, "who patrol the vessels, including the open decks, 24 hours a day.

"The safety of our guests and crew are Carnival's highest priority," he said. "Carnival believes that adequate safety measures are in place to prevent guests from falling overboard."

The most recent overboard incident occurred Tuesday when a 50-year-old woman was reported over the side about 75 miles southwest of Pensacola.

The U.S. Coast Guard sent ships and aircraft to search for the woman, whose identity was not immediately available, who fell from the Carnival Holiday shortly after 1 a.m. reports said.

Cruise line officials said that a passenger heard a splash around midnight, prompting the ship's security to conduct a cabin-by-cabin search. The crew lowered lifeboats to look for the woman but found nothing.

The ship sailed from Mobile, Ala., and was on a five-day cruise to Mexico

The day before, a 47-year-old Seminole man, leaning over the railing to get a glimpse of an approaching pilot boat, fell into the mouth of Tampa Bay near the Sunshine Skyway bridge.

Even though he was hit by another passing boat, Larry Miller managed to swim to a buoy and climb onto it where he was rescued by another pilot boat crew. Pilot boats shuttle harbor pilots to and from large vessels to maneuver them into and out of channels and ports.

Miller was taken to the pier at Fort DeSoto State Park where he was met by emergency workers who took him to the hospital. He suffered cuts and scrapes, but is expected to recover.

A woman who answered the telephone at Miller's home Tuesday declined to comment about the ordeal.

"We don't want to have our story told," she said.

The tumble came as the Carnival Inspiration was returning to Tampa after a four-day cruise.

Twenty-three days ago, an 18-year-old passenger aboard the Carnival Fantasy out of New Orleans fell overboard about 150 miles southwest of Tampa during a cruise to Key West.

Bruce O'Krepki, who was celebrating his high school graduation, was never found, although the Coast Guard searched the area for two days before calling off the effort.

The teen was one of about 30 classmates of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Hammond, La., who were on the celebratory voyage. Family members of the students also were on board, including O'Krepki's parents, officials said.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

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