A crew member aboard the Viking Star was observed falling overboard on Monday while the ship was transitioning from Greece to Italy.
In a communiqué shared with USA Today, a Viking Cruises representative said the event occurred around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 27. “The vessel’s emergency protocol was activated promptly, and a comprehensive search mission was initiated in collaboration with the Italian Coast Guard,” the firm stated.
The coast guard informed the outlet it received a notification “of a crew member going overboard” while the vessel was nearly 100 nautical miles southeast of the Calabria coastline in Southern Italy.
On Facebook, travelers shared updates about the search efforts. One mentioned the ship “halted for over four hours.” Another uploaded a video of aerial operations to locate the crew member.
According to CruiseMapper, the ship is on a seven-day journey through the Mediterranean. The Star first set off from Athens, Greece on Oct. 23 and is projected to reach Rome, Italy, on Oct. 30.
Viking confirmed to USA Today that the crew was permitted to resume the voyage on Monday evening.
“We are profoundly saddened by what has transpired,” the firm expressed. “Our hearts are with the family of our crew member, and we will continue to provide support during this challenging period.”
According to a 2020 report from the Cruise Line International Association, the premier trade organization in the industry, there were 212 man overboard occurrences across member cruise lines from 2009 to 2019. Out of these incidents, only 48 resulted in successful rescues.
Just last week, a cruise passenger aboard the Norwegian Jewel went overboard on Monday, Oct. 20 while the cruise was navigating from Ponta Delgada, Portugal to Miami.
In an Oct. 21 TikTok, an individual claiming to be on the same ship stated passengers were alerted to a man overboard around 2 a.m.
On the Norwegian Cruise Line forum on Reddit, one user noted crews had “restricted access to the outside walking deck to prevent passengers from interfering with the crew during the search operations.”
“The announcement was made before 3 a.m. ship’s time, and five hours later the ship continues to retrace its route conducting search operations,” the Oct. 21 post read.
