Moment cruise passenger found alive 20 HOURS after jumping from ship

DAILYMAIL.COM • 2h ago

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER 11:44 13 Oct 2026, updated 11:46 13 Oct 2026

Greek coast guards have rescued a female cruise ship passenger after she spent 20 hours floating in the sea far off the coast of Zante.

The 44-year-old woman from El Salvador fell off the Odyssey of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, early on Friday morning as it sailed from Mykonos to Naples, Italy.

Officials said she grabbed a lifebuoy and jumped off the 167,704 gross-ton ship as she ‘wanted to disembark’ at around 6am.

The crew immediately alerted Greek coast guards, who sent two vessels, while a navy helicopter was also sent.

The Odyssey of the Seas also took part in the search-and-rescue operation. But it wasn’t until 20 hours later that a nearby passenger ferry spotted her early on Saturday morning, around 70 miles off the coast of Zante.

She was rescued by a coastal patrol boat shortly after. Footage shared by the Hellenic Coast Guard showed the vessel slowly pulling up to the woman, who was seen in a lifebuoy.

As a man onboard asks her if she is okay, another throws a rope to her which she uses to pull herself towards the boat.

Another video shared by a passenger onboard the cruise showed several passengers peering over the side to watch a small craft to search for the woman.

According to Bob Butler, an American who was onboard, the crew on the craft weren’t able to find the woman.

Local media reported that passengers were informed of the woman going overboard at around 10am on Friday.

Footage from that time showed the captain informing travellers of the incident. He was heard saying: ‘We have turned the ship around and we’re working with the Greek Coast Guard to make sure that we find the lady and hopefully we can retrieve her.

‘We will do our utmost to be there on time, but of course yours or anyone’s life comes first, so at this time we will concentrate [on] the search for this lady who climbed over the railing and jumped into the sea this morning.’

Later, the captain told passengers that she had been found: ‘At 2:30 [in the morning] we were informed that the person that went overboard was found, and today we have the news that she was taken to the hospital and she was walking off the boat by herself.’

Local media reported that she was taken to the port town of Katakolo and then to a hospital in the nearby town of Pyrgos.

Local prosecutors ordered medical examinations, including a psychiatric evaluation, for the woman.

The Odyssey of the Seas had to cancel its final port of call in Naples to assist in the search.

It was in the final leg of a seven-night cruise around the Mediterranean Sea, including Santorini, Kusadasi in Turkey and Naples.

According to the Cruise Lines International Association, 212 people went overboard from cruise ships between 2009 and 2019.

Of these, just 48 people – or 22.6 per cent – were successfully rescued.

The Daily Mail has contacted Royal Caribbean for comment.

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