MIAMI — The Norwegian Jewel returned to PortMiami Monday morning, one week after a passenger fell overboard, sparking a massive search at sea.
The Jewel, which can hold about 2,300 passengers, was in the middle of a transatlantic repositioning cruise from Portugal to Miami when a man fell overboard last Monday, Oct. 20.
While details as to what led up to this incident are still unclear, passengers on board the vessel report seeing a couple in their 20’s fighting in the ship’s casino before the incident occurred.
They said the man appeared to be losing money.
The couple then returned to their cabin where other passengers report hearing a loud argument.
Soon after, around 2:30 a.m., an announcement was made that someone had fallen overboard.
“A 27-year-old guy had a fight with his girlfriend, and he jumped overboard. I don’t think he was ever found,” passenger Jerry Cohn said.
Video taken by a passenger captured the moment the announcement was made and outside decks were closed.
“As soon as you heard the bell for the announcement, the whole ship got silent, cause they all wanted to know,” Cohn said.
One passenger said he witnessed the man’s girlfriend returning to the casino in tears, screaming for crew members to help.
“When she came down to the casino, she was saying, ‘He fell.’ We thought, maybe someone fell in the casino, broke his neck or something,” Valentin Kragelj said. “And then she was just pointing with her hands, because there’s windows to outside. She’s pointing with her hands … Then I realized, man overboard.”
An extensive search and rescue operation was conducted with crew members using a small search and rescue boat to search the waters just west of the Azores for any sign of the man.
But, according to the cruise line, the search was unsuccessful and was called off about 12 hours later.
Norwegian released a statement that read in part:
“The search was unfortunately unsuccessful, and the ship was released by authorities to continue its voyage. Our team is attending to the guest’s loved ones during this very difficult time, and our thoughts and prayers are with them.”
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
