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A passenger of the Icon of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, has died after jumping off the vessel during the first night of its scheduled week-long voyage, the New York Post reported on Tuesday (May 28).
The unidentified man jumped off the 12,000-foot-long Royal Caribbean cruise ship shortly after it departed from Florida to Honduras Sunday (May 26) morning, the Coast Guard confirmed to the Post.
“The cruise ship deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man and brought him back aboard,” the Coast Guard said. “He was pronounced deceased. Beyond assisting in the search, the US Coast Guard did not have much involvement in this incident."
The ship, which holds 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members, was said to be approximately 300 miles from its homeport of Miami at the time of the incident, CruiseHive.com reports. The vessel was stopped for about two hours as crew members launched a search and rescue mission and pulled the jumper back onboard, however, he was reported to be in critical condition at the time and eventually succumbed to his injuries.
“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," Royal Caribbean said in a statement to CruiseHive.com.