Cruise passenger rescued after going overboard

Footage of a man being rescued and hauled back on board the MSC Orchestra.

Footage of a man being rescued and hauled back on board the MSC Orchestra.

Published Jan 2, 2020

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Durban - A South African man was rescued from the Indian Ocean after he was said to have jumped overboard from the MSC Orchestra while it was en route between Madagascar and Mauritius on New Year’s Eve.

According to the cruise liner company, the passenger jumped around 4am on Tuesday.

Ross Volk, managing director of MSC Cruises, said the man suffered only minor injuries and the cruise was able to continue as scheduled.

“Our ship’s security protocols were activated immediately, and the ship command responded promptly and adequately.”

A search-and-rescue operation found him in an hour and he was brought back on board the ship and taken to its medical centre for care.

Volk said his health was being monitored, and his family had also been offered assistance.

Gerhardt Jooste, a financial lawyer from Cape Town who was also on the cruise, captured the final moments of the rescue from an upper deck.

Footage showed a rescue boat being hauled up the side of the cruise liner using two cranes before the man walked off wrapped in a silver blanket.

Volk said that it appeared the man jumped overboard of his own free will.

The cruise liner is scheduled to return to Durban on January 8.

On a recent cruise, a passenger is believed to have fallen overboard while the ship was out at sea. According to a passenger aboard the ship, they were woken up by members of the crew who arrived to do a head count of passengers. She said the crew were trying to establish which cabin the man belonged to. 

"They were very kind to us and answered all our questions. They kept apologising for waking us up," she said.

The Mercury

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