A 44-year-old woman, a Salvadoran national, was rescued on Saturday after spending 20 hours in the water clinging to a lifebuoy after going overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
The incident occurred while the Odyssey of the Seas was sailing through the Ionian Sea near the island of Zakynthos. The woman was traveling on the ship when she reportedly jumped off the vessel, telling authorities she "wanted to disembark." She was spotted by the cargo ship MSC Rossella III, which was assisting in the search, and a Greek Coast Guard crew was alerted to the location.
The woman was pulled to safety and taken to a local hospital in the port of Katakolo, where a prosecutor ordered a psychiatric evaluation. According to the Hellenic Coast Guard, the woman had been in the water for 20 hours before being rescued.
The incident is the latest in a series of incidents involving passengers jumping off cruise ships. Last year, a man jumped off Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in an attempt to evade nearly $17,000 in gambling debt. He survived the jump and was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
Royal Caribbean has not commented on the incident. The woman's current condition and the circumstances surrounding her decision to jump off the ship are not clear.
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