Dramatic Rescue for Man Overboard on UK Cruise Ship

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean a man fell overboard in the dead of night, spurring a huge rescue operation where the man was finally brought to safety wearing only his underwear on one of Europe’s largest ships. 

The P&O-operated Ventura was making its way from Southampton to the Caribbean when passengers were awoken around 5:30 am with the sounds of horns and lifeboat launches as the Ventura crew began a frantic search for an overboard man.  Search lights were beamed out into the ocean and the ship looped around to the area while cries of “Man overboard” were heard round the Ventura.

The gigantic 290-meter long and 115,000-ton ship could easily topple a human in the water as it is described as a “floating hotel”, so concerns for the man’s life were grim.  Daily Mail reports that it was a passenger who initially spotted him in the water during the search mission.  Life rings were immediately thrown to sea and man was miraculously pulled back onto the ship from the pitch black Atlantic Ocean. 

An eye-witness on the cruise said that the man, somewhere between 30 and 50 years old, was hoisted onto the deck wearing nothing but his underpants, but alive and well.  They all expressed that finding him in this condition, at night, was miraculously lucky.  Passengers were relieved after the dramatic incident.

There is no word on how the man went overboard.

The Ventura is on a 15-night trip to the Caribbean from Southampton, England.