Short answer – you don’t. Now if one is standing on the guard rail, leaning over from the waist so you can get that perfect shot, and/or intoxicated, then you may find yourself going for a swim. Further, if you have the good fortune to survive the “fall,” the likelihood that you’ll be recovered is pretty low. It appears that a Chinese tourist aboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas has defied all the odds.
According to crew-center.com, Chinese tourist Wang Si went overboard on August 10.
“First to notice her disappearance was her family who informed the ships officers. All crew were engaged in an on board search operation, but they could not find the 32 year-old woman. Ship’s captain notified the Coast Guard, and search and rescue operation was initiated. After reviewing the recordings from the surveillance cameras, security officer noticed that the woman fell overboard.”
Fortunately for Ms. Si, she is apparently an accomplished swimmer because she was discovered by fishermen 38 hours later, and apparently no worse for wear.
“She was in a stable condition with minor injuries on her arms. Upon her rescue, the woman said she fell off the Mariner of the Seas while leaning over a 1.4-meter rail and gazing into the sea.”
My Take
First, I’m glad she’s OK. That said….. Don’t lean over the rails! Don’t climb on them. Don’t try to visit your friend’s stateroom by climbing from balcony to balcony. (Yes, that’s happened!) However, the fact that the ship’s security team eventually found evidence of the fall when reviewing security recordings makes me wonder how closes those security cameras are monitored. Man overboard detection technology exists. Maybe it’s time to take a look at how well it works and consider investing in it.
-MJ, August 16, 2016
