The 44-year-old woman who went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas on Friday, October 9, was rescued after spending approximately 20 hours in the water, according to the Greek Coast Guard.
The woman was found floating with a life ring early Saturday morning, October 10, by the cargo ship MSC Rossella III, approximately 70 nautical miles southwest of Zakynthos, Greece. She was rescued by the Greek Coast Guard and transported to a nearby hospital for medical examinations where she was reportedly treated for hypothermia.
The Greek Coast Guard released video showing rescuers pulling the woman from the water in the early morning.
The woman reportedly jumped overboard with a life ring which likely saved her life. A Greek Coast Guard spokesperson stated that the woman said she jumped overboard because she “wanted to disembark.” A local prosecutor ordered a psychiatric evaluation for the woman.
The Katakolo Port Authority is investigating the incident.
This is one of the longest successful search and rescue missions ever for an overboard person on a cruise ship. In 2022, a passenger was found up to 21 hours after going overboard from the Carnival Valor. In 2018, a crew member on the Norwegian Getaway was rescued after being in the water for 22 hours. In both incidents, the cruise ships were not equipped with automatic man overboard (MOB) systems.
MOB systems save lives by automatically alerting the cruise ship’s bridge when a person goes overboard and by tracking the person in the water using various technologies.
An automatic MOB system helped save the lives of a father and his five-year-old daughter who went overboard from the Disney Dream in June 2025. The young girl went in the water after falling backwards from a railing through one of the ship’s portholes. The girl’s father jumped in after her and triggered the ship’s MOB system. A rescue team was quickly deployed and the father and daughter were rescued after just 20 minutes.