Two fishermen rescued a man who identified himself as a pianist on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship after he was found treading water about 20 miles off California’s coast on Friday, according to the US Coast Guard and fishermen’s accounts reported by the BBC and the Guardian.
Fishermen Sean Norton and Grant Garrett found the man nearly 20 miles offshore while returning from a fishing trip near Catalina Island, according to the Guardian. The man told them he was a pianist on the Ovation of the Seas, a 14-deck Royal Caribbean ship, according to the fishermen, the BBC reported.
Newport Beach Lifeguards confirmed he was an employee of the Ovation of the Seas after he was handed over to them, according to the BBC. The Coast Guard said the man was taken to hospital in stable condition, according to the BBC.
Lifeguard officials believe he may have fallen overboard at around 02:30, about nine hours before he was discovered, the BBC reported. Norton told the Guardian the man was in the water "probably 10 hours," so the two accounts differ on the duration.
Norton credited the man’s survival to unusually warm water, which he put at 76 degrees (about 24C), saying that in a different year the man would not have survived. Scientists monitoring the Pacific reportedly describe the developing El Niño as the strongest on record, with ocean temperatures about 3.05C above average. Norton’s temperature and survival claims have not been independently confirmed.
Royal Caribbean Group said it is providing support and assistance to the crew member but has no additional details to share, citing employee privacy, according to the BBC. The man has not been publicly identified, and no statement from him has been reported.
The US Coast Guard is investigating how the crew member went overboard from the Ovation of the Seas. No timeline for findings was reported. The key details rely mainly on the BBC and Guardian reports; the original CBS News report was not available for review.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.