This is so terrifying!
In case you didn’t hear, back in July a Disney Cruise Line ship called Disney Dream was coming back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida from the Bahamas when a man jumped overboard into the ocean. The ship was stopped at Disney’s Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point when the incident took place, reps for the company told People. But why did the man jump overboard? His 5-year-old daughter reportedly fell off the ship, and he was rushing to save her!
Luckily, per reps, both dad and daughter were found safe:
“The Crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water. 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.”
Whew… But what went wrong? How did all this happen??
Well, according to Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the girl and her family had stopped on the fourth deck of the ship to “take a photo of the daughter” near a porthole. The mother then allegedly “pointed to the port hole railing and the daughter climbed on the railing and sat down. The daughter lost her balance and fell backward off the railing into the ocean”. Oh no! That seems kind of easy to do, right??
Related: Influencers Drowned After Reportedly Refusing To Wear Life Jackets On Sinking Ship!
The child reportedly fell 49 feet down into the water at 11:29, with her dad diving off the ship seconds later, at 11:30, to save her. By 11:40, ships hit the water to perform a rescue, and at 11:49 both dad and daughter were retrieved from the water. They were both treated for mild hypothermia and the father sustained a few minor injuries.
The issue was, though, the “man overboard” alarms didn’t notify someone had fallen off the ship until her DAD fell! Detective Christopher Favitta told the outlet:
“[The little girl’s] small body figure did not trigger the man overboard [MOB] sensors.”
Oh no… This could’ve ended WAY worse. We mean, what if her dad never jumped in to save her? What if she fell when no one was looking?!? Such a scary thought…
There’s not going to be any criminal case, though. Per a September email from the assistant state attorney Melissa Kelly, there’s no case for prosecution:
“While the defendant’s conduct is arguably negligent and irresponsible, it does not rise the egregious level of conduct necessary to establish criminal culpable negligence.”
“Arguably negligent” certainly sounds like grounds for some kind of civil suit, huh? We mean, at the very least, to pressure the cruise line to rework these systems, right?! That girl could’ve drowned!
For some background on these man overboard sensors, back in 2010 the Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act made it a requirement for US cruise ships to “integrate technology that can be used for capturing images of passengers or detecting passengers who have fallen overboard, to the extent that such technology is available”. According to 2020 docs, these MOB systems are supposed to be able to detect someone at least 4’8 falling overboard. It’s unclear if Disney Dream was using this type of system or another.
Such a scary situation. And it poses a lot of questions and potential risks for kiddos traveling on the sea. We’re glad to hear this family made it out safely, though.
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[Image via AI Generated]
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