It has emerged that the Royal Caribbean crew member who died after going overboard did so following a violent onboard altercation in which he allegedly stabbed a female coworker multiple times.
The horrific incident occurred aboard the Icon of the Seas - the world’s largest cruise ship - while it was sailing off the coast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
The man, a 35-year-old South African national, allegedly attacked a 28-year-old South African female crew member around 7:30PM in what police and Royal Caribbean have described as a “personal dispute.” He then fled the scene and went overboard, authorities said.
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson confirmed the details in a statement: “One of the crew members was injured, was attended to by the onboard medical team, and she is now in stable condition. Unfortunately, the other crew member is deceased after he went overboard and was recovered in a search and rescue operation," per NBC News.
An Oscar alert - a maritime emergency signal for a person overboard - was issued immediately after the man went overboard.
Rescue crews recovered his body shortly afterward. He was found unresponsive, and although CPR was performed onboard, he was declared dead.
Superintendent Stephen Rolle of the Royal Bahamas Police confirmed that the female crew member is currently in stable condition after suffering stab wounds to her upper body.
Royal Caribbean has not released the identities of either individual involved. “We extend our condolences to the crew member’s family and loved ones,” the cruise line said in a statement to Cruise Hive. “To respect their privacy, we have no additional details to share," per Daily Mail.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force said the “matter is presently being investigated,” and an autopsy is pending to confirm the man’s exact cause of death.
The Icon of the Seas is on a seven-day cruise and is expected to return to Miami on Saturday. Its final stop before returning to the US is at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas.
Built for $2 billion, the Icon of the Seas is nearly 1,200 feet long and weighs approximately 250,800 tons. It can hold up to 7,600 passengers and is considered the largest cruise ship in the world.
The incident comes amid other recent cruise-related safety concerns. On June 29, a young girl fell overboard from the Disney Dream as it returned from a voyage through the Bahamas to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The girl reportedly lost her balance while sitting on a railing on deck 4 and fell backward through a porthole into the ocean, according to a statement by the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
While her father didn’t witness the fall, he sprang into action the moment his wife alerted him and jumped in the water.
“After the girl's mother alerted her husband, who didn't see the incident, he jumped into the ocean to save his daughter,” authorities said. “BSO detectives said after the 37-year-old father found his daughter, he treaded water until they were rescued by a tender that was launched from the ship.”
The entire ordeal, which took place on June 29, lasted about 20 minutes. Once brought back onboard, both the father and daughter were examined by the ship’s medical staff and later transported to a local hospital after the vessel docked at Port Everglades the following morning.
The family has not been publicly identified and has requested privacy.