Woman Rescued After Nearly 20 Hours At Sea Off Greece After Cruise Ship Overboard Incident

A 44-year-old woman from El Salvador has been rescued alive after spending nearly a day in the Mediterranean Sea after going overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas.

The woman was found in the early hours of Saturday, October 10, about 70 nautical miles southwest of Zakynthos, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea.

A cargo ship involved in the search spotted the flashing light on the lifebelt she was wearing and alerted rescuers to her location.

The Greek Coast Guard recovered the woman, who was conscious, and gave her first aid aboard a rescue vessel. She was then taken to the port of Katakolo in the western Peloponnese before being transferred to a hospital in the nearby town of Pyrgos for medical checks and observation, according to the Coast Guard.

Passenger accounts shared online said the woman was treated for hypothermia and was able to walk after reaching shore. Authorities did not provide more details about her condition.

The Coast Guard was alerted early on Friday, October 9, that a woman had gone overboard from a Bahamas-flagged cruise ship about 72 nautical miles southwest of Zakynthos. It was not immediately clear how she entered the water or how she came to have a lifebelt.

Two Coast Guard vessels, an Air Force helicopter and merchant ships in the area joined the search. Odyssey of the Seas also changed course to help look for the missing passenger.

Royal Caribbean Group said it had launched a search and rescue operation and was working with the authorities.

The statement was issued before the woman was found. The ship’s captain later confirmed the rescue in an announcement to passengers, according to accounts shared online.

Odyssey of the Seas was sailing from Mykonos, Greece, to Naples, Italy, when the incident occurred. The 167,704-gross-tonne cruise ship was on the final leg of a seven-night Greek Isles cruise that began in Civitavecchia, Italy, on October 4.

The itinerary included stops in Santorini and Mykonos in Greece, Kusadasi in Turkey and Naples in Italy.

The ship spent several hours helping with the search before cancelling its scheduled stop in Naples and continuing towards Civitavecchia.

One passenger said online that the search had been underway for about 14 hours by late Friday evening, before the ship began moving towards Civitavecchia.

Another passenger said the captain informed those on board at around 10 a.m. on Friday that a woman had gone overboard earlier that morning. The ship then turned around and began searching with help from the Greek Coast Guard.

The captain later told passengers that the woman had been found at around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and taken to hospital. Some passengers reported that she was able to walk after being brought ashore.

References: ekathimerini, royalcaribbeanblog