A dramatic rescue unfolded at sea when a father jumped into the ocean to save his young daughter after she fell overboard from a Disney Cruise Line ship returning to South Florida.
The incident occurred Sunday aboard the Disney Dream, on the last day of its four day "Bahamian Cruise" visiting Nassau and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point (Eleuthera). It was a roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Disney Dream returned to Port Everglades early Monday morning after completing the four-night cruise to the Bahamas.
“We are on the Disney Dream at sea today and just witnessed a first on a cruise. A little girl fell overboard and her dad jumped overboard to try to save her. Man overboard calls went up immediately. The Disney crew went into action asap. Lots of praying folks on this ship! Both the little girl and dad were both successfully rescued!” one passenger on Facebook shared.
The child “unexpectedly fell from Deck 4's sports area that houses a Jogging Track shielded by plexiglass barriers,” according to CruiseMapper.com. Further details of how the child went overboard from the ship are not available at this time. Disney Dream’s deck 4 is a lounge area with theaters, shopping, restaurants, and walking. There are just a few deluxe state room cabins on the deck.
"The Crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water," Disney Cruise Line said in a statement given to the media. "We commend our crew members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes."
It’s estimated that about 20 people go overboard on cruise ships each year. A 10-year report from Cruise Lines International Association stated that a total of 212 man overboard incidents involving crews and passengers were identified from 2009 to 2019. The percentage of those successfully rescued remains low. Only 48, or 28.2 percent, were rescued.
This is the second man overboard incident for the Disney Dream ship, according to the ship's accidents and incidents reports on CruiseMapper.com. In May 2017, a male passenger went overboard and was successfully rescued. That search operation was assisted by the United States Coast Guard airplane team and the rescue took about one hour, according to the incident report.
According to CruiseMapper, all Disney ships are equipped with an automatic man overboard system, which automatically alerts the officers at the ship’s Navigation Bridge when someone goes overboard.