Other Things You'll Want to Know - January 20, 2020

CND subscribers also read about:

• Sun Princess becoming the first ship to resume calls at Australia's Kangaroo Island following the bushfire disaster.
• Carnival's Mardi Gras has been topped off with its funnel at Meyer Turku
• The US Coast Guard performed another expert medevac from Carnival Pride off the coast of Puerto Rico. Video

A Middle-of-the-Night Medevac

The US Coast Guard once again demonstrated this morning, that the people aboard a cruise ship don't need to have any connection to the US for the US Coast Guard to step in and help them. As we pointed out a couple weeks ago, you usually think of the US Coast Guard being called on by US-based ships and flying in to help an American who boarded in an American port, but the Coast Guard routinely rescues people aboard ships just passing by US coastlines.

Late last night (Monday at 10:45pm), Coast Guard watchstanders received a call from Marella Explorer 2, which most of us will remember as the former 71,500-ton Celebrity Century, asking for assistance medevacing a 29-year-old Filipino crew member who had suffered a heart attack. Marella is the British-based line which used to be Thomson and is now owned by German travel conglomerate TUI.

What makes the operation even more impressive is that the crew had to fly to the ship 50 miles off the coast of St. Coix from their base in Puerto Rico on the moonless night using night-vision goggles with the only light in the area coming from the ship itself. The video below was shot with the same technology. 

Details appeared in the November 26 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Medevac from Carnival Valor

The US Coast Guard came to the rescue again early Tuesday morning when they hoisted a 23-year-old man and the ship's doctor off the deck of Carnival Valor in the early morning hours (5:45am) when the ship was about 65 nautical miles off the coast of Venice, Louisiana.

The Coast Guard got the call from the ship at 1:14am saying the man had fallen aboard the ship and had what the Coast Guard said were “multiple significant injuries.” The Coast Guard dispatched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and crew from their station in New Orleans.

Medevac from Carnival Ecstasy

The US Coast Guard medevaced an 80-year-old woman from Carnival Ecstasy on Sunday (January 27, 2019) when it was 55 miles east of Savannah (Georgia). The MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Charleston met the ship at 10:20pm and transported the patient to a Savannah hospital.

As the rescue diver is being lowered to the deck of the ship at the beginning of the video, note the speed at which the ship and helicopter are moving forward, and how steady the pilot is keeping his position over the ship.

Note: This is b-roll, so there is no sound and these are just edited clips, not the entire operation.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - January 23, 2019

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• Holland America own premium brand of coffee
• The Russians have come to NCL and Celebrity
• The US Coast Guard medevaced a 40-year-old woman from Carnival Pride on Monday when it was 50 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, NC. Video is below.

All in a Day's Work

Today we have a short video shot high over the bow of Adventure of the Seas Saturday night. The US Coast Guard performed a medevac of a 53-year-old man from the ship when it was 80 miles east of Charleston (SC).

Even though there's an incredible amount of expertise necessary to coordinate the helicopter with the ship, the pros and the Coast Guard always make it look so easy. This video is no exception, but what struck us in this one was the nonchalance of the rescue swimmer (the person who is lowered to the deck on cruise ships) as he hangs there outside the helicopter waiting for it to get into position over the ship, and the same as he comes back up.

It just seems like for most of us, it's a typical day at the office waiting for the page to come out of the printer.

This story appeared in the July 16 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - May 18, 2018

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• A painting party at Port Everglades
• A short-distance medevac

Details appeared in the May 18 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

All in a Day's Work

Coast Guard watchstanders received a call from Holland America's Veendam today requesting a medevac for a 65-year-old woman who was suffering from lower leg pain. A rendezvous point was set 50 miles east of Charleston (SC).

The Coast Guard sent an MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter crew from Charleston and an HC-130 Hercules fixed wing aircraft from Clearwater (FL) to support communications coverage, and they recorded this video.

The helicopter crew hoisted the woman from Veendam's deck at 7:31pm Thursday evening and transported her to a hospital in the Charleston area.

Video courtesy of US Coast Guard.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - March 27, 2018

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• A special medevac from Norwegian Dawn today
• A look around Symphony of the Seas

Details appeared in the March 26 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Please note this is B-roll, so there is little or no sound.

Lots of Practice

The crew of Carnival Pride got lots of practice today with helicopter medevacs as the ship sailed off the Carolina coast toward the Bahamas when not one, but two patients were medevaced off the deck of the ship in separate incidents. `

The Coast Guard shot outstanding video of both, which are shown below.

Details appeared in the January 30 edition of Cruise News Daily.

First medevac of the day:



Second medevac of the day:



Video courtesy of US Coast Guard. All rights reserved.

Muscling in on the Coast Guard's Territory

Last Friday just after leaving Cape Liberty at Bayonne (NJ) an 88-year-old man aboard Anthem of the Seas suffered a heart attack and needed urgent shoreside medical attention.

Details appeared in the January 23 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Video courtesy of the NYPD. All rights reserved.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - January 15, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• Carnival Panorama's keel being laid at Fincantieri's Marghera yard
• A long-distance medevac conducted by the US Coast Guard
• Carnival Cruise Line returning to St. Maarten

Details appeared in the January 15 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Carnival Panorama keel laying

Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - January 2, 2018

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• Valparaiso considering expanding
• Medevac from Caribbean Princess

Details appeared in the January 2 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - December 27, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• A somewhat unusual medevac from Vision of the Seas
• The new Shakira commercial for Costa debuting on Italian television. The video is below.

Details appeared in the December 27 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Cheaper by the Boatload

The US Coast Guard performed a rare double medevac today from Coral Princess shortly after it left Port Everglades.

Details appeared in the November 21 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - November 2, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• The reopening of Carnival's Grand Turk Cruise Center
• A medevac from Caribbean Princess

Details appeared in the November 2 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Carnival Ecstasy was the first ship to return to Grand Turk

Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

A Long Way to Go

A 14-year-old boy and his grandmother got an experience Tuesday afternoon few other cruise passengers get, although they had to trade most of their cruise for it. They were hoisted from the bow of Norwegian Breakaway to a Coast Guard helicopter when the ship was 303 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland.



The video was shot from a Coast Guard HC130J fixed-wing aircraft which accompanied the helicopter to provide support.

The introductory title card in the video is incorrect. According to the Coast Guard correction, the ship was 303 miles off the coast of Ocean City MD at the time, which is nearing the limits of the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter.

The complete story appeared in the June 28 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Video courtesy of the US Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard Works Even in the Middle of the Night

While most passengers were asleep aboard Carnival Imagination last night, the US Coast Guard was flying above it saving the life of an 87-year-old female passenger. Imagination's crew contacted the Coast Guard's watchstanders at San Diego about 12:45am Monday morning reporting the woman had a head injury sustained in a fall and she was experiencing seizures.

The Coast Guard flight surgeon recommended that the patient be medevaced and taken to a hospital for emergency care. A little more than two hours later, a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter was above the deck of Carnival Imagination hoisting the woman aboard about 58 miles off the California coast. About an hour later she was on shore in an ambulance being taken to a San Diego hospital.

In the video below you can see the rescue swimmer being lowered to the deck, the patient being hoisted and the rescue swimmer coming up. Note how steady the Coast Guard pilot keeps the helicopter positioned over the deck.

This story appeared in the October 24 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Making It Look So Easy

The US Coast Guard medevaced a 47-year-old man from Ruby Princess late Friday night when it was nine miles southwest of Point Loma near San Diego.

They received a call from the ship at 11:35pm reporting the man, who was a crew member, was experiencing symptoms of a heart attack. By 1am, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew had been launched from the Coast Guard station at San Diego, and by 2:05am, they were over the ship hoisting the man up to the helicopter.

The complete story appeared in the September 26 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Video courtesy of US Coast Guard. All rights reserved.

Medevac from Carnival Sensation

The US Coast Guard performed a relatively routine medevac from Carnival Sensation on Saturday as it was sailing about 22 miles off the coast of Palm Beach. The video, however, is remarkable.

The Coast Guard received a call from the ship about 7pm that a 71-year-old man was experiencing stroke symptoms, and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was launched from the Coast Guard air station at Miami. Shortly, it was hovering over the cruise ship’s aft deck.

We have some outstanding video thanks to advances in video technology that shows the rescue swimmer being lowered to the deck, and this camera angle gives us some good perspective on the height from which these medevacs are performed.

As usual at first look, they make it look so simple, but as you watch the coordination between the helicopter and ship as it continues to move through the water, you realize the expertise necessary between the pilots of the aircraft and the ship. Still, the Coast Guard considers it all in a day’s work.