A Royal Caribbean crew member was found treading water nearly 20 miles off the Newport Beach coast on Friday, according to local responders and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Newport Beach anglers Sean Norton and Grant Garrett were returning from a morning marlin trip near Catalina Island when their captain spotted a person in the water around midday. The fishermen pulled the man aboard and issued an emergency call for assistance.
“Grant and I each got an arm and lifted him up,” Norton said, adding the man appeared to be in shock. Once alert, the man told them he worked as a pianist on the 14-deck Royal Caribbean ship Ovation of the Seas, Garrett said. Norton recalled the man saying, “Thank you. I thought I was gonna die.”
Newport Beach lifeguards responded to the distress call and met the vessel offshore. Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda said the location was approximately 15 to 20 miles out, “pretty much in the middle of the ocean.” Authorities believe the crew member may have gone overboard around 2:30 a.m., placing him in the water for about nine hours before he was found.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The agency said it is investigating the incident and how the crew member ended up overboard.
Norton noted the unusually warm sea surface temperatures may have aided the man’s survival. He estimated the water at about 76 degrees, saying in a different year the outcome could have been much worse.
In a statement, a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said the company is providing support and assistance to its employee and had no additional details to share, citing privacy.
Royal Caribbean crew member rescue under Coast Guard review
The Coast Guard has not released further information about the timeline of events or the ship’s last known position when the crew member went missing. Ovation of the Seas is a 14-deck vessel operated by Royal Caribbean, and officials said the investigation will examine how the man went overboard and the response that followed.
The case joins other recent incidents drawing attention to maritime safety and search operations, including the Learjet crash West Palm Beach in which investigators also scrutinized emergency response timelines.