Royal Caribbean crew member rescued near Catalina Island

Newport Beach lifeguards believe he may have fallen overboard about nine hours earlier

Two fishermen stopped their boat after spotting a man treading water in the Pacific Ocean near Catalina Island on Friday. Grant Garrett recalled the moment he and Sean Norton found the man: “I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a human being. Stop the boat; let’s get all of our lines in,’” he said.

The fishermen handed the man over to Newport Beach Lifeguards, who confirmed that he was an employee of the 14-deck Ovation of the Seas. The US Coast Guard said it had received a report from “a Good Samaritan who recovered a conscious individual from the water.” The service said the man was taken to a hospital in stable condition and that it was investigating the incident.

CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner, reported that lifeguard officials believed the man may have fallen overboard at around 02:30, about nine hours before his discovery. Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda told CBS, “It was approximately 15 to 20 miles offshore, pretty much in the middle of the ocean.” The report placed the scene around 20 miles (32km) off the California coast.

The fishermen said the man identified himself as a pianist aboard the Ovation of the Seas. The US Coast Guard was investigating the incident, and the man had not been identified.

“The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,’” Norton said.

Norton credited the man’s survival to unusually warm ocean temperatures. “You have this crazy super El Niño year. This guy was in the water for probably 10 hours, but the water’s 76 degrees,” he said. The BBC converted that 76-degree water temperature to about 24C. “A different year, no way he makes it,” Norton said.

The BBC reported that the developing El Niño was the strongest on record, according to scientists monitoring the Pacific, with ocean temperatures about 3.05C above average. The US Coast Guard said it was investigating the incident, and the man remained unidentified in the BBC report.

Royal Caribbean Group said in a statement, “We are providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time.” The spokesperson added, “To respect the privacy of our employee, we have no additional details to share.”