A swift and well-coordinated emergency response resulted in the successful evacuation of a 9-month-old British citizen from Marella Explorer ship. The operation was carried out by the Coordination Center for Search and Rescue at Sea, which includes the Maritime Safety and Port Management Authority (UPSUL).
The distress call was received at 2:35 am when the cruise ship was 19 nautical miles (35 km/22 mi) away from the entrance to the Bay of Kotor (Montenegro). Realizing the seriousness of the situation, UPSUL's assistant director for safety at sea immediately activated the rescue operation.
A highly trained crew on the rescue boat SAR-1 was dispatched to the Gulf for the emergency medical evacuation. Simultaneously, the Operation and Communication Center (OKC) 112 and the Institute for Emergency Medical Assistance were alerted.
Following protocols and taking utmost care, the emergency intervention team facilitated the safe transfer of the baby and accompanying personnel to the Lustica Bay marina for medical assistance.
By 4:23 am, the rescue ship's crew had successfully evacuated the baby and two companions from the cruise ship and proceeded towards Lustica Bay marina. With the help of the fire service and medical staff, the baby was safely handed over for further medical treatment at 4:40 am.
Marella Explorer currently operates a 7-day roundtrip itinerary (Adriatic Explorer) roundtrip from Kerkyra (Corfu Island Greece) and visited various destinations in the region, including Koper Slovenia, Trieste ItalySplit Croatia, Dubrovnik Croatia, and Kotor. The voyage began on July 14th and is scheduled to end on July 21st, with the ship returning to Kerkyra.
For more Marella Explorer incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.