A crew member aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship was found by two fishermen and rescued off the coast of Southern California after surviving roughly nine hours in the Pacific Ocean, according to authorities and his rescuers.
The crew member, whose name was not released, is believed to have fallen from the cruise line’s 14-deck ship “Ovation of the Sea” early Friday morning, officials said. He was discovered later that day about 15 to 20 miles off the coast of Newport Beach and rescued, according to the fishermen who saved him.
“He could not stop shaking and he could not talk,” Sean Norton, of Newport Beach, told ABC station KABC. “And it was clear to us that he was near death.”
Norton’s fishing partner, Grant Garrett, said he first spotted the man floating on his back in the water near Catalina Island.
“I saw his head out of the water. He was flailing his hands just a little bit and his feet just a little bit just to keep his head above water so he could breathe,” Garrett told KABC. “We acted as quick as we could to go and get him out of the water.”
The fishermen said they contacted the U.S. Coast Guard for help. A crew from the Newport Beach Fire Lifeguard Department was dispatched to their vessel to treat the man.
The man was taken to a hospital and is expected to live, authorities said.
Fire and rescue officials estimate the man was in the water about nine hours before Norton and Garrett found him.
Royal Caribbean confirmed to ABC News that the man who was rescued was a crew member on board the ship that had departed from San Pedro, California, and was headed to Ensenada, Mexico.
“We are providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement.
The circumstances of how the man ended up going overboard were not immediately clear.
Battalion Chief Mike Ure of the Newport Beach Fire and Lifeguard Department said the man is fortunate to be alive, adding that the warmer El Niño waters of the Pacific Ocean may have saved his life.
“The water was warm. It’s probably 72 to 74 degrees. Pretty good for survival, at least for the short term. And, yeah, he was really fortunate those conditions were present for him,” Ure told KABC.
ABC News’ Henderson Hewes contributed to this report.
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