A 71-year-old passenger was medevaced 13 miles to safety by the United States Coast Guard this week after suffering from stroke symptoms aboard a Holland America ship.
The man, who has not been named yet, was rescued Wednesday morning, September 11, from ms Oosterdam which was en route to Yakutat. A call for aid from the ship's crew members was made at around 9:00 a.m., officials said.
At the time of the call, the cruise ship was approx 13 miles off the entrance to Alaska's Dry Bay. The crew altered course to close the distance with the rescue vehicle, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter dispatched from USCG Air Station Sitka. The crew had been on a training flight and were diverted to conduct the medevac. They were able to board ms Oosterdam and hoist the patient into the chopper in a stretcher.
According to USCG officials, the passenger was in stable condition.
At the time of the accident, the ship was sailing on a 7-day round-trip Alaskan Explorer cruise from Seattle.
For other ms Oosterdam accidents and incidents see at the ship's CruiseMinus page.