During a crew emergency exercise on Carnival Venezia ship at Port Charlotte Amalie (St Thomas US Virgin Islands), an unexpected incident occurred when a crew member fell overboard while the ship was docked. The event took place on Friday, May 10th during a routine weekly drill, typically conducted during port calls when most passengers are ashore.
Linda Spanky Warhaftig, a member of the Faceboog group COPs - Cruisers Opinion Page, witnessed the man overboard (MOB) incident and shared photos and a video.
The crew member, who was engaged in maintenance work at the aft of the ship, accidentally fell overboard and was not part of the drill. Officers promptly launched a rescue boat and successfully recovered the man. An announcement was made over the ship's PA system to clarify that this was an actual emergency and not part of the scheduled drill.
“We just had a man overboard. It was NOT a guest but a crew member working on maintenance. He is okay! This ship is amazing! They activated the emergency procedures and everyone responded flawlessly. This happened in the middle of a drill! They lowered a lifeboat to make it easier to get him back on board. Even for something as straightforward as this rescue, the crew member's retrieval involved every high-ranking officer. Kudos to this ship's competent, swift response and professionalism,” Linda Spanky Warhaftig posted on the COPs page.
For more Carnival Venezia incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.