A horrific tragedy at sea struck earlier this week as a passenger jumped to his death from the world’s largest cruise ship.
As The New York Post reported, Coast Guard officials revealed that the unidentified man left over 80 feet overboard from the Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas shortly after it departed Florida on Sunday for Honduras.
The Coast Guard told the Post they deployed one of their rescue boats, located the individual, and brought him back aboard the ship. He was pronounced dead following the rescue.
The US Coast Guard went on to say they did not have “much” involvement in this incident beyond helping in the search.
Below is a video of rescue crews desperately attempting to locate the man after he jumped.
WATCH:
CruiseHive revealed the ship stopped for approximately two hours for the search.
Royal Caribbean provided a statement to CruiseHive saying they are providing assistance to the deceased man’s loved ones and have no further details to share at this time.
“The ship’s crew immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard and launched a search and rescue operation. Our Care Team is actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time. For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share,” the statement read.
The Icon of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s newest ship. It is roughly 1,200 feet long Icon of the Seas and holds 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members.
It also has 2,805 staterooms and 20 decks.
This is not the first incident involving passengers jumping off Royal Caribbean ships. Last month, a 20-year-old man leaped from Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas right in front of his family after getting drunk. He remains missing.
According to the Washington Post, 386 people have jumped off cruise ships in the last two decades.
