On the evening of Tuesday, January 7th, the Crown Princess, en route from Fiji back to Australia, issued an urgent medical evacuation request.
The vessel was positioned ~210 NM (~390 km/240 mi) southeast of New Caledonia's Isle of Pines when a passenger’s condition necessitated immediate medical attention.
Responding to the alert, a French Air Force Puma helicopter was dispatched to the cruise ship. After a thorough consultation with onboard medical personnel, authorities determined that the patient required urgent transfer to Noumea for advanced care.
The complex overnight operation, involving coordination between the Crown Princess and rescue teams, successfully concluded at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 8th, with the patient admitted to Medipole Hospital in Noumea for further treatment.
Crown Princess' current cruise is 13-day roundtrip Fiji from Sydney NSW, themed as "New Year". The itinerary started on December 29th, 2024 and ends on January 11th, 2025.
For more Crown Princess incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.