Passenger Reported Overboard from Oasis of the Seas

[Jan115]

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a Royal Caribbean cruise ship passenger who went overboard into the Atlantic Ocean early Friday.

The incident happened about 1 a.m., when a 35-year-old man from Brazil fell from the Oasis of the Seas while the vessel was traveling 17 miles east of the Turks and Caicos Islands, the cruise line said.

The man, who had been on the seventh deck of the vessel, apparently jumped into a lifeboat one deck below, the Coast Guard said.

"He was spotted by Oasis of the Seas crew members intentionally going over the side of the ship," Royal Caribbean Cruises spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said in an email.

A video posted on YouTube shows passengers calling to the man who is holding on to a life boat as the sea churns below.

"Let go of me!" he shouts. "You don't touch me!"

A crowd of bystanders watches as he continues talking to someone on board, "Because of you, this happened...I'm not going anywhere...Let go of me! Get off of me!"

The man, shirtless and wearing a red swimsuit or shorts, appears to try and pull himself up onto the edge of the lifeboat. But he seems to lose his grip or slips on the boat surface and falls into the ocean.

A woman passenger shouts, "He's there, he's there! Get the life thing, throw it over!"

The video was later removed from YouTube.

The Coast Guard is searching with a long-range plane and a helicopter deployed from the Clearwater air station, Petty Officer David Schuhlein said.

We have one aircraft with seven crew members on it that took off this morning at 4 a.m., and they're flying all the low search patterns in the area," he said. "So we have one C-130 and one helicopter in the air."

Cruise passengers used social media to transmit updates on the search and images from the vessel.

A tweet shortly after 6 a.m. indicated that it was light and that at least two rescue boats could be seen searching the water for the fallen passenger. An earlier tweet from about 3 a.m. read, "Horrible rain hampering rescue efforts."

The cruise departed Port Everglades Oct. 31 and will return there Saturday.

As the search continues, the cruise line said it was comforting the missing passenger's relatives.

"Our Care Team is providing support to the guest's family and our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time," Martinez said.

Searchers are focusing in the area around where the ship's crew estimated the man went overboard, Schuhlein said. The Turks and Caicos Islands are in the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Dominican Republic.

"[We're] using our algorithms and drift techniques to see exactly where he could be at now, given the drift pattern hours later, to search in that area for him," he said.

One of the world's largest cruise ships, the Oasis of the Seas is more than 1,100 feet long and weighs more than 225 tons. It is returning from a week-long cruise in the eastern Caribbean.

Its base has been Port Everglades since 2009, but is scheduled to move to Port Canaveral, along the central Florida coast, in 2016.

Source: Doug Phillips-Sun-Sentinel (Nov. 6, 2015)

Re-posted on CruiseCrazies.com - Cruise News, Articles, Forums, Packing List, Ship Tracker, and more.

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Featured photo credit: Royal Caribbean

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[DebbieandJerry]

This type of news always breaks my heart

[jacketwatch]

The video was on national news. I heard he was drunk so I pray he survives.

[jacketwatch]

Well its been about 40 hrs. now and no luck. I do hope he had a life ring to hang on to. It looks bleak. So sad.

[Minkster1973]

WTVJ, NBC6

8:54 PM, Nov 7, 2015

46 mins ago

WTVJ - NBC6

SHOW CAPTION

According to the initial statement by Royal Caribbean, 35-year-old Bernardo Albaz jumped off the Oasis of the Sea cruise ship intentionally. According to his family's lawyer, however, this is not the case.

"It was not a suicide," says Mike Winkleman, attorney for the Albaz family. "Bernardo did not jump."

Winkleman says it was anti-gay comments from crewmembers that led to the horrifying moment that left Albaz dangling on the edge of the ship. Albaz and his husband Eric were married a year ago in New York State.

According to Winkleman, "there were several different occasions where there were anti-gay remarks against this legal-married gay couple like, 'Hi, lipstick.'" Winkleman also said it was his understanding that these comments were repeatedly said to the couple.

The lawyer continued by saying Albaz was at one of the ships bars when another anti-gay comment was directed at him.

"Bernardo ended up getting in a huge altercation and ended up in his cabin where he is furious and ultimately Royal Caribbean security came to the scene," said Winkleman as he continued his account of the events. "As a result of the altercation in his cabin Bernardo falls off his balcony onto the life boat area."

It was at this point, which can be seen in the video, Winkleman says you can hear Albaz's husband Eric screaming at the security guards while Albaz hangs on for his life.
Winkleman also told reporters that the family wants Albaz found.

"They [the U.S. Coast Guard] did find a body matching the description of Bernardo that was spotted by an airplane but they were not able to recover the body."

Royal Caribbean issued a statement on the matter:

Our onboard security team responded to the guest's stateroom after a neighboring guest complained about a domestic dispute on the guest's balcony. Our staff did not have a physical altercation with the guest and were unable to prevent his jumping from the stateroom balcony.

Royal Caribbean is deeply saddened by this event. We will continue to provide assistance to the family as well as law enforcement.

[Jan115]

Wow - that's disturbing to hear. Here is some video from the lawyer to go with this article (thanks, Michelle, for sharing this):

Video from Lawyer: "Man Fell, Not Jumped"

[jacketwatch]

No matter what led to this a young man died needlessly. I do wonder if we will ever really know or even if we should as its a private matter. Such a shame.

[Minkster1973]

Well, if I had to guess, that attorney is looking for a big payout. Nonetheless, I pray for peace for his family, especially his husband. What a horrible way to lose your spouse.

[hazelson]

Very sad but I fail to seehow anyone can "fall" from a balcony....unless it was intentional or alcohol was involved.

I have to agree with Minkster1973 - another shark out for big bucks!