Cruise ship pianist rescued after spending nine hours in Pacific Ocean
A cruise ship pianist was rescued from the Pacific Ocean after apparently falling overboard and spending nine hours stranded in open waters.
In a report by the BBC, the Royal Caribbean employee managed to survive the ordeal after two fishermen discovered him near Catalina Island on Friday, which was around 20 miles off the Californian coast.
One of the fishermen, Grant Garrett, recalled the moment he and Sean Norton spotted the man: "I'm like, “Yeah, it's a human being. Stop the boat; let's get all of our lines in.'"
According to them, the man said that he was working as a pianist on a 14-deck cruise ship called the Ovation of the Seas.
"The only thing he said to me was, 'Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,'" Norton said.
He believed the man survived partly because of the unusually warm water.
"You have this crazy super El Niño year. This guy was in the water for probably 10 hours, but the water's 76 degrees," Norton presumed. "A different year, no way he makes it."
The pianist, who has yet to be identified, was then taken to a hospital after the rescue and was declared to be in stable condition.
Newport Beach Lifeguards subsequently took custody of him and confirmed that he was indeed an employee of the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship. They speculated that the pianist may have fallen overboard at around 2:30 a.m., about nine hours before he was discovered.
"It was approximately 15 to 20 miles offshore, pretty much in the middle of the ocean," Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda told CBS.
Meanwhile, the Royal Caribbean Group, which owns the Ovation of the Seas, assured that they are providing support and assistance to their crew member during this difficult time.
"To respect the privacy of our employee, we have no additional details to share," they said.
Measuring about 348 meters long, the Ovation of the Seas can accommodate approximately 4,180 passengers at double occupancy and has 2,091 staterooms. It mainly sails from Seattle during the northern summer season and repositions to Sydney during the southern summer season.