A pianist employed aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship is recovering in a hospital after two California fishermen discovered him treading water in the Pacific Ocean nearly 20 miles offshore on Friday, officials said.
Authorities believe the unidentified crew member survived roughly nine hours stranded in open water before being pulled to safety around noon, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and local emergency officials. The Coast Guard is actively investigating how the man ended up overboard.
An unexpected sighting offshore
Anglers Sean Norton and Grant Garrett, both from Newport Beach, California, had spent Friday morning pursuing marlin near Catalina Island. As they made their journey back toward the mainland, the boat’s captain noticed something unexpected floating in the waves, CBS News reported.
Garrett said the crew realized quickly that they were looking at a person in need of immediate help. The fishermen stopped their vessel, cleared their fishing lines, and pulled alongside the drifting man.
“Grant and I each got an arm and lifted him up,” Norton told CBS News, explaining that the man was suffering from profound shock. Once brought aboard and given time to recover his composure, the man told his rescuers that he worked as a pianist on Royal Caribbean’s 14-deck vessel, the Ovation of the Seas.
Norton recalled that the rescued man spoke very little following his retrieval from the ocean. “The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,'” Norton told reporters.
Lifeguards assist in deep-water response
Following the rescue, the fishing crew broadcast an emergency maritime call to alert coastal authorities. Personnel from the Newport Beach lifeguard division were dispatched to meet the vessel and assist in caring for the patient.
Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda said the stranded crew member was found roughly 15 to 20 miles off the coastline, describing the location as “pretty much in the middle of the ocean,” CBS News reported.
Despite the prolonged exposure, Norton noted that uncharacteristically mild sea conditions may have spared the man’s life. He pointed to warmer surface conditions linked to a strong El Niño pattern, which elevated ocean temperatures to around 76 degrees, telling reporters that in a different year, survival would have been far less likely.
Investigation underway
The crew member was transferred to medical personnel on shore and remains hospitalized. Coast Guard authorities confirmed that he is expected to survive the ordeal.
Royal Caribbean Group acknowledged the event and stated that it is aiding the employee. In a statement provided to CBS News, a company representative said the cruise operator is offering support during a difficult period while declining to release additional specifics out of respect for the worker’s personal privacy.
Investigators have not disclosed the man’s name, his medical condition beyond expecting survival, or the exact circumstances that led to him falling from the Ovation of the Seas.
