A cruise passenger from Shanghai, China, sailing with her parents on Royal Caribbean's 3,100-passenger ship Mariner of the Seas, fell overboard into the Pacific a few days ago.
Fortunately, the story has an incredibly happy ending. 32-year-old Wang Si was rescued after spending 38 hours in the ocean.
According to media reports, Si, a resident of Shanghai, accidentally fell overboard while admiring the scenery from Deck 4. She apparently leaned too far over the railing.
Si went into the water at about 9 p.m. on August 10. Her parents reported her missing to the ship's crew after she failed to return from a walk.
The cruise line reportedly issued several ship-wide public announcements searching for her. Several hundred crew also searched for her onboard to no avail.
The line's CCTV footage revealed that she'd fallen overboard into the sea from a height of about 90-plus feet. She was not wearing a life jacket.
The Chinese Coast Guard was alerted as the ship continued to Shanghai, its turnaround port. There, police boarded and questioned the ship’s crew as well as reviewed the video of her fall.
Relatives were told that the outcome was likely not going to be positive. But, the story had an unexpected twist.
Si, who learned to swim in kindergarten, was apparently a very good swimmer. After falling into the ocean, she actually tried to swim and "catch" the cruise ship but eventually stopped when she realized it wouldn't be possible.
So for 38 hours she swam, treaded water and floated, even getting a bit of sleep. She finally was rescued as she attracted the attention of a fishing boat's crew.
The cruiser told rescuers she had also tried but failed to get the attention of several other fishing boats earlier. When pulled aboard the fishing boat, she was exhausted and suffering from sunburn and jellyfish stings.
The family was in the midst of a 4-day cruise to Japan and South Korea when the incident occurred.