The FBI Is Investigating Fall of the Carnival Cruise Passenger: Report

Table Of Content

• Breathtaking video shows pregnant Disney cruise passenger dangling over the ocean in Coast Guard rescue
• More from CBS News
• Coast Guard suspends search for Louisiana man who went overboard from Carnival cruise ship
• Search suspended for man who fell overboard from Carnival cruise ship near Florida
• Carnival Cruise Surveillance Video Confirms Missing Passenger Jumped Overboard
• Watch: The rise and fall of the cruise industry

The ship was on a five-day cruise to Mexico that departed Saturday, Carnival told FOX Business. The man jumped from the Carnival Cruise Line ship Mardi Gras just after midnight about 55 miles east of Port Canaveral, according to the Coast Guard and Carnival. “I think it kind of blows the norm, the normalcy, out of the water here, and really just shows the will to live is something that you need to account for in every search-and-rescue case,” he told CNN.

Breathtaking video shows pregnant Disney cruise passenger dangling over the ocean in Coast Guard rescue

After the man was reported missing, the ship’s security team immediately began searching the vessel, Lupoli said in an earlier statement. The ship was on its way from New Orleans to Montego Bay, Jamaica at the time as part of a week-long Western Caribbean cruise that began Sunday, according to CruiseMapper. "We are beyond grateful that this case ended with a positive outcome," said Lt. Seth Gross, a Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator. The cruise ship was on a four-day Bahamas sailing and on its way back to Jacksonville, Florida, at the time of the incident, Matt Lupoli, a Carnival spokesperson, said. The man was reported missing by his travel companion late Sunday afternoon after he was not seen all day.

More from CBS News

Coast Guard and will continue on to Cozumel, Mexico, according to Lupoli. To use the bathroom, and after he did not return to his cabin, his sister notified the ship. Authorities say the man who recently disappeared from a Carnival cruise ship appeared to have jumped overboard.

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Coast Guard suspends search for Louisiana man who went overboard from Carnival cruise ship

The two were last seen together at a restaurant where Grimes had won an air guitar contest before going to the bathroom. But unless the person was seen going over or spotted immediately, the odds may be against them. If the ship is moving the person may be rapidly swept away and if the location isn't known a single person's head can be extremely difficult to see in the vast, rolling ocean.

How many people have gone overboard from a cruise ship?

They also broadcast the man-overboard alert to mariners across the Gulf of Mexico. The search for a man who went overboard on a cruise ship heading from Louisiana to Jamaica has been suspended, the U.S. LA FAYETTE, ALABAMA -- James Michael Grimes is speaking out for the first time in an exclusive interview with ABC News after going overboard on a Carnival cruise ship after being missing for almost 20 hours. There are also the risks from overexposure, hypothermia, dehydration, and predators. Worldwide, as of 2023, 386 cruise and ferry passengers and crew have gone overboard since 2000, according to a list from CruiseJunkie. If you see someone fall or jump off a cruise ship, immediately throw them a flotation device if there is one nearby.

The Coast Guard cleared Carnival Glory to continue to Montego Bay, where it was set to arrive Wednesday, Lupoli said. "The Carnival Care Team is providing support to the guest’s companion and traveling party who are on board," Carnival said. Officials have not released any identifying information about the man other than his age. "He told me to hold on to this life vest, and I was just thinking 'Thank you, you were like a guardian angel coming down for me,'" he said. "At that time, I thought, how much longer am I going to have to be out here," he said. "The fall didn't kill me and the sea creatures didn't eat me. I felt like I was meant to get out here."

Coast Guard called off a search after a 30-year-old man was reported missing on Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Elation cruise ship and cruise officials said surveillance video showed him jumping off. Three weeks previous, a 42-year-old woman fell off the 10th deck of the Royal Caribbean International but was rescued by the ship's crew. In May a 35-year-old Carnival Magic passenger went overboard east of Jacksonville and was never found. James Michael Grimes, 29, made national headlines after he survived 20 hours in the Gulf of Mexico last November.

Carnival Valor had said in a statement to ABC News that it conducted a search-and-rescue operation after Grimes went missing. "We are beyond grateful that this case ended with a positive outcome," said Lt. Seth Gross, a Coast Guard Sector New Orleans search-and-rescue mission coordinator. Grimes had only been aboard the Carnival Valor for a day before his sister reported him missing.

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a Virginia man who fell from a cruise ship balcony earlier this week. The ship will keep searching until the Coast Guard clears it to continue its voyage to the next port. The Coast Guard will continue searching, widening the radius of the search based on probable locations, conditions and ocean currents, until they feel they're unlikely to find the person. Alcohol can play a role in overboard incidents, said Michael Winkleman, a maritime attorney with Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A., who has represented travelers in overboard cases. "Usually, it's just people not making smart decisions because they're dramatically overserved and they end up going over," he said.

In the cell phone video obtained by FOX 8, the woman, 32, is seen being pulled to her feet by security guards on the deck of the Carnival Valor ship on Wednesday. Carnival's Care Team is "providing support to the family members of the missing guest who were sailing with him and remain on board," Lupoli said. Matt Lupoli, a spokesperson for Carnival, told CBS News that the man was at a bar with his sister on Wednesday night, and he disappeared after leaving to use the restroom. His sister, whose identity has also not been made public, alerted crew to his absence when he did not return to his stateroom overnight. CBS Miami reported the Mardi Gras is the largest ship ever built for the cruise line.

Barnett’s mother Elisha Reid told Business Insider that her daughter was previously informed that there was no footage of what happened. Get a brief on the top business stories of the week, plus CEO interviews, market updates, tech and money news that matters to you. The ship arrived back its home port of New Orleans on Thursday morning, Carnival said. Carnival told FOX Business that the passenger was never in handcuffs at any point during the incident.

Life buoys and orange life rings are available throughout the ship. Having something to hang onto increases the person's chances of staying afloat and makes them easier to spot. In March, a body was recovered after a man jumped overboard from Carnival Horizon, and the Coast Guard suspended a search for a man who jumped overboard from the line's Mardi Gras ship in April. Carnival Valor retraced its route to aid in the search, but has since been released by the U.S.

Coast Guard suspends search for Louisiana man who went overboard from Carnival cruise ship - NBC News

Coast Guard suspends search for Louisiana man who went overboard from Carnival cruise ship.

Posted: Thu, 16 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The Mardi Gras and the cruise ship Elation also participated in the search, said Coast Guard spokesman David Micallef. Insider could not reach the FBI via phone outside regular business hours. A spokesperson for the federal agency's Norfolk field office told Fox the FBI is the lead investigating agency for the incident. “From what my granddaughter could tell from the poor quality of the footage, it looked like he went to move and slipped off.

I know Tyler wouldn’t deliberately jump,” Barnett's grandmother Dirlean Tate Mason told NBC News on Thursday. She said her granddaughter Destiny Barnett reviewed the video of Barnett on the ship. Another Carnival passenger was rescued after going overboard from the line’s Carnival Valor ship in November. A Carnival Cruise Line passenger went overboard on the line’s Carnival Magic ship on Monday.