A person sailing on Virgin Voyages’ cruise ship Valiant Lady went overboard in the early hours of Thursday morning (March 31).
The incident happened off Portugal's coast.
The cruise ship was en route to Portsmouth UK (England) to sail a Long Weekender itinerary to Zeebrugge (Bruges, Belgium) which had to depart on Friday, April 1.
According to a Virgin Voyages spokesperson, in the early hours of the morning, they had been informed of a man overboard accident involving a sailor/guest, which had resulted in a search and rescue mission.
"We remain in constant communication with the search and rescue teams, and are working closely together to do everything that we can in this situation. Our investigation indicates this was an intentional act and that no foul play is suspected."
Virgin Voyages apologized to passengers sailing on Valiant Lady this week and offered them a free European cruise this summer, after the overboard incident and an onboard medical emergency delayed the return to Portsmouth UK as well as the ship's subsequent sailing, which had been scheduled to depart on Friday, April 1.
Earlier in the journey, another passenger suffered a non-COVID-related emergency requiring medevac and shoreside care, delaying the arrival of Valiant Lady in Lisbon (Portugal). The line revealed the person was doing well.
Virgin said the combination of the two accidents meant the vessel, which had been due to sail a 3-night Long Weekender in Zeebrugge itinerary, was now due back in the UK no sooner than 6 pm on April 1.
This forced the company to delay embarkation for Valiant Lady’s next sailing until the morning of April 2.
For more Valiant Lady incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.