In the early hours after the Carnival Valor set sail from New Orleans on Thanksgiving Eve, a brother and sister set off for a spot of holiday cheer: They headed to a bar on board.
Predictably, the man at one point walked away to go to the bathroom.
But he didn’t come back.
Hours have passed.
He was not in his cabin.
The 28-year-old had simply disappeared.
What happened next has surprised at least one seasoned sailor who, with hours of hindsight, declared the astonishing result unlike anything he’s ever seen, and nothing less than “one of those Thanksgiving miracles.” .
An air and sea search is launched
It was around 11 p.m. when her brother left, the sister recalled, Carnival spokesman Matt Lupoli told CNN in a statement Thursday.
At noon the next day, on Thanksgiving Day, she was reported missing, according to the statement. Officials have not identified any.
Announcements echoed through the ship for the missing passenger to check in with guest services, passenger Mike Anderson told CNN Thursday, and people “noticed security starting to search the ship with a photo of the missing (passenger) on their phones.”
Around 2 p.m., a final entry request was issued, he said.
Anderson told passengers that the arrival time at its port of call in Cozumel, Mexico, would be delayed. His wife, Whitney Gaines, said one of the ship’s pools was empty, but the couple said no official announcement had yet been made about what had happened.
The boat, Anderson said, then turned around.
“Carnival Valor traveled its route to support search and rescue,” explained Lupoli.
Then, around 2:30 p.m., the Coast Guard received a call from the vessel, Coast Guard Lt. Phillip VanderWeit said in a statement.
A cruise passenger has gone missing.
A multi-crew, air and sea search for the man soon began, he said.
A CRITICAL MISSION
A 200 mile zone and a critical mission.
An alert went out to all mariners in the Gulf and the Coast Guard “threw out all available resources,” Lt. Seth Gross, USCG search and rescue coordinator, told CNN Friday morning.
That included a small boat from Venice, Fla., a New Orleans-based helicopter and planes from Clearwater, Fla., and Mobile, Ala., he said.
The search extended more than 200 miles into the gulf, Gross said, adding that water temperatures there Thursday night were just above 70 degrees, and slightly colder in the Mississippi River.
Given the time difference between when the man was last seen and when the Coast Guard was alerted, “we knew that communication with mariners in the Gulf of Mexico would be critical,” Gross said.
The mission intensified.
About 20 kilometers south of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, the crew of the bulk carrier CRINIS was surveying the water, the Coast Guard said in a news release Friday.
Then, around 8:25 p.m., they saw something.
“Unlike what I’ve been a part of”
It was the man.
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from New Orleans went to the scene and “got the man into the helicopter,” VanderWeit said.
And he responded, said USCG Chief Warrant Officer Ryan Graves.
“He was able to identify his name, he confirmed that he was the individual who went overboard,” Gross told CNN’s Boris Sanchez on Friday afternoon. “He was showing signs of hypothermia, shock, dehydration,” but could walk and communicate.
“He did not give any clear indication of why he fell overboard or at what time specifically,” he added.
“The fact that he was able to stay afloat and on the surface of the water for such a long period of time is something you can’t take for granted and certainly something that will stay with me forever,” he said Gross. .
Rescuers have not been able to determine exactly how long he was in the water, Gross told “CNN This Morning,” but it could have been more than 15 hours.
If it was that long, it’s “the longest I’ve ever heard of, and just one of those Thanksgiving miracles,” he said.
In his 17-year career, “this case is unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of,” Gross said. “I think that blows the norm, the normalcy, out of the water here, and it really just shows that the will to live is something that needs to be considered in all search and rescue cases.”
“If it wasn’t for the alert crew aboard the CRINIS engine, this case could have had a much more difficult ending,” he said in the press release. “It took a total team effort from Coast Guard watchdogs, response teams and our professional maritime partners operating in the Gulf of Mexico to locate the missing individual and bring him to safety.”
The rescued man was taken to await emergency medical personnel at New Orleans Lakefront Airport, Graves said.
He is being evaluated at a hospital, Gross said, and was reported Friday morning in stable condition by the Coast Guard.
Back aboard the Carnival Valor, an announcement Thursday evening over the public address system informed guests that there had been a man-on-board incident, Anderson said.
The ship, however, had been released from the search, Anderson recalled hearing, and was once again sailing for Cozumel.