Hours after departing Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands, it’s confirmed by Carnival Cruise Line that a passenger jumped overboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship. The vessel launched a search and rescue operation.
Sadly it has been confirmed that the man was found and has passed away. The vessel has been allowed by the US Coast Guard to continue sailing toward Nassau, the next port of call.
Passenger Jumps Overboard Carnival Horizon
The cruise line has confirmed that a male passenger has jumped overboard the Carnival Horizon vessel just off Turks and Caicos on Wednesday evening at approximately 7:00 PM. The Vista-class vessel has already started a search and launched two of its lifeboats. A life preserver has also been thrown into the water from the ship’s deck.
Several hours later, the man was eventually found, but sadly he had passed away. Carnival is providing support to the family.
A guest onboard the current sailing named David Custer who is also a news anchor for WNEM TV5 tweeted, “A guest jumped overboard from Deck 11 on Wednesday at approximately 7 p.m. ET. The ship’s command immediately began search and rescue procedures, returned to the area near where the incident occurred and notified the U.S. Coast Guard.”
Carnival Cruise Line said in an earlier statement: “Carnival Horizon is currently conducting a search for a guest who jumped overboard from Deck 11 on Wednesday at approximately 7 p.m. ET. The ship had departed Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands, at 5 p.m. ET.”
“The ship’s command immediately began search and rescue procedures, returned to the area near where the incident occurred and notified the U.S. Coast Guard. Carnival’s CARE team is providing support to the guest’s wife who was traveling with him.”
The cruise line later followed up and stated, “Together with the US Coast Guard, the ship’s crew located and recovered the body of the guest. Carnival’s Care team is providing assistance to his family.”
The Carnival cruise ship had completed a scheduled call at Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos after departing at 5:00 PM. The overboard occurred at approximately 7:00 PM. A video has already been posted of the search operation underway this evening.
Carnival Horizon was heading toward its final port of call in Nassau, the Bahamas, and is scheduled to arrive on March 18. Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic was also a featured port of call on March 15 on the six-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary. The vessel is scheduled to arrive back in Miami, Florida, on March 19, 2022.
The ship is 133,500 gross tons and has a guest capacity of over 3,900 at double occupancy and 1,450 international crew members.
This news comes after a guest went overboard the Carnival Valor in February 2022 while the ship was in the Gulf of Mexico. The US Coast Guard launched a search operation, but sadly the passenger was never found.
