A woman who fell from the deck of the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship late Sunday was allegedly “clowning around”, according to her boyfriend and traveling companion, Jorge Caputo. Caputo, who was there at the time of the incident, claims that Mindy Jordan, a 46 year old practical nurse and mother of two was “clowning around and she fell over” though Jordan’s family is undoubtedly skeptical.
Mindy’s sister, Julie August of Mt. Laurel, N.J., told the press that she and other relatives learned of her sister’s disappearance from Caputo. As to whether or not Caputo is telling the truth about what happened, August said, “Who knows? We weren’t there.”
What we do know is that Mindy Jordan fell off the Norwegian Dawn around 7:50 PM on Sunday, just hours after the ship pulled out of New York City on a one-week cruise to Bermuda. Searches were immediately organized and rescue operations were put underway, however they’ve been forced to cancel multiple times since Sunday due to hazardous weather conditions.
Clowning around or not, Jordan’s relatives are clearly distraught and calling for a full investigation into the incident.
Jordan’s sister says that, “It’s just not adding up. My sister is a professional. She’s a nurse and a mother. This is not somebody who’s going to be jumping up on a rail.”
Speaking to WPVI-TV, an ABC affiliate in Philadelphia, Jordan’s mother, Louise Horton of New Jersey, expressed frustration with Jordan’s boyfriend – when she talked to him on the ship and asked him what he was going to do about the situation all he said was “I guess I’m just going to have to go on to Bermuda.”
The ship is scheduled to reach Bermuda Wednesday.
This is, of course, only the latest in a string of similar “passenger overboard” incidents and I think, it plainly begs the question, who is truly at fault here?
Obviously, if foul play is involved then the incident is neither the fault of the passenger or the cruise line. Still, it is curious that so many of these types of things are occurring with such increasing frequency. Most people agree that it would be really hard for the average person to just fall off of a ship and some have even said that with railings that are typically 4 to 5 feet high, it may even be impossible – especially for someone to be thrown off.
So, how is it that so many people continue to go overboard?
On April 24, a 44-year-old man from Illinois, Steven Manning, went missing from the cruise ship Carnival Victory approximately 38 miles northeast of Cozumel, Mexico. The Coast Guard searched after being notified but never found him.
On March 9th, Tina White, age 39, was reported missing from a Costa Mediterranea ship. Ms. White, was last seen aboard the ship by her boyfriend and traveling companion, Andy Hopkins.
Interesting…and sounds familiar.
On June 18 of last year, friends and family last saw Brent Smith resting on the balcony of his stateroom aboard the Freedom Of The Seas cruise ship. Smith was on the cruise with his parents, two siblings, and a family friend. The ship was enroute to Puerto Rico, and was sailing near Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas when it is thought Smith went overboard. He was never found.
The list goes on and on.
CruiseBruise.com keeps an update list of cruise passengers who have disappeared aboard cruise ships.
The Safe Cruise website reports that since the year 2000, 98 individuals have gone overboard – and also claims that the cruise lines, in some way, profit from the deaths and disappearances of these passengers by staging “murder mystery cruises”, a move clearly in bad taste considering the circumstances.
Anyone would have to agree, that’s just poor taste.
So, clearly, better security at sea is something passengers desperately need – more safety is surely a good thing. Some experts have suggested having “sea marshals” aboard ships, the same as air marshals aboard planes. However, in the end, maybe people really just need to be saved from themselves.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Give me a break! 99.99% of the passengers on a cruise ship come back safe and sound. More people committ suicide in Las Vegas every year, but do you hear about that? No. Cruises get a bad rap because the media likes to hype it for ratings.
Other reports of this event indicate that this woman was climbing from her balcony to the adjacent balcony of friends – we’ll have to see what they say.
What I do not understand is why any adult would try to cross from one balcony to another when she can walk 15 feet (or less) across the cabin to the door? I do think the majority of these incidents can be chalked up to poor decision making…
From the AP:
Cruise Line: Missing Passenger May Have Been Climbing On Balcony
NEW YORK – The FBI is looking into the disappearance of a woman off the side of a cruise ship Sunday night, trying to determine whether the incident was foul play or an accident. The operator of the ship, Norwegian Cruise Line, said Tuesday that initial reports indicate that 46-year-old woman was attempting to climb from one exterior balcony to an adjoining balcony and subsequently fell overboard some 45 miles off the coast of Atlantic City, N.J.
Investigators say the woman and her boyfriend had a stateroom adjacent to a different stateroom occupied by friends. The woman was apparently attempting to climb from one balcony to the other when she fell from the Norwegian Dawn cruise liner headed for Bermuda.
While FBI and Coast Guard officials declined to identify the woman, a source familiar with the case has identified the victim as Mindy Jordan, of New Jersey.
An FBI spokesman said agents with the FBI’s New York office would speak with witnesses to try to learn the circumstances surround the woman’s disappearance.
However, the FBI will not meet the ship when it docks in Bermuda on Wednesday. Authorities in Bermuda will talk to witnesses and employees.
The cruise operator said it is cooperating fully with authorities investigating the cause of the incident.
Rough weather Monday forced the U.S. Coast Guard to stop searching for the missing woman. The cruise ship was headed for Bermuda from New York City when the woman went overboard at about 7:50 p.m. Sunday, just five hours after leaving a Manhattan port, cruise officials said.
In a statement, the cruise line said the ship immediately began a search and rescue operation, but did not provide further details. On Monday, the Coast Guard said continuing winds over 50 mph and heavy rain prevented it from resuming the search. Coast Guard officials said helicopters based in New Jersey and Cape Cod were able to search for the woman fro several hours. Officials said the water temperature was in the 50s and that a person wound not likely survive more than a couple of hours in those conditions.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family and friends of the guest during this difficult time,” said Norwegian Cruise Line spokeswoman AnneMarie Mathews.
At midnight Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard released the ship and took over search and rescue operations.
Going overboard is one of my worst nightmares. My son almost went off the railing of a cruise ship once. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to climb one of those.
Chris -
One assumes he was a young child at the time – but how does one explain an adult climbing on balconies?
To me, the increase in the number of the incidences seems to coincide with the cruise lines ever increasing number of rooms with balconies on their new ships. I can’t remember any of the recent incidences taking place in public areas of the ship they always seem to take place on private balconies. Could be the suicide factor or it could be alcohol convincing people they can scale the side of the ship without bystanders to talk them out of it.
Hi Guys,
When do people take personal responsibility? A 46-year-old woman was climbing up a balcony — clearly she didn’t have all her wits about her. Sadly, it was a fatal error in judgement.
Chris, I’ve been there before with the kids. Point blank, you lock the balcony door and the kids are not allowed out on the balcony without an adult. Never turn your back on a kid near the railing. My kids are teens and I tell them they aren’t allowed on the balcony without me around. A few years ago, I caught one of them clowning around standing on a table leaning over the rail, I went completely bat$hit on them. Sometimes you have to be mean to keep the worst from happening.
:)
Anita
Of course! individuals are responsible for their own actions, but in the instances where alcohol plays a role, I would also venture to say the cruise line itself, and those operating the bars on the cruise ships, have a certain amount of responsibility, too.
Anyone serving drinks on the cruise is responsible for not over-pouring and not over-serving patrons of the cruise, as is the establishment for which those servers are working. I would also like to think cruise ships are as responsible for their passengers’ safety as an airline is for mine when I board my next flight.
The bottom line is, when you are dealing with a large number of people–adults, children or otherwise–in an enclosed space for any given time, liability is an issue, as is overall safety, and I think anyone–be it one person or 98–falling off a ship for ANY REASON while that ship is cruising demands appropriate attention and remedy.
@Mindy. One word: alcohol.
Kerri –
You are so wrong. It should never be a bartender’s responsibility if someone drinks too much. I agree that our liberal government have made that the case, but it doesn’t make it right.
Personal responsibility – where has that gone? Am I the only one who still believes in it?
I have been on 34 cruises including 19 days to Panama Canal and 15 days to Hawaii and back. . . lots of sea days! One CANNOT accidentally fall off a cruise ship. The railings are high enough, even on balconies. But. . . if your judgment is impaired due to alcohol and/or drugs, one could certainly make an effort to climb up and fall off. . .and I mean EFFORT! Drink too much? That is the choice of each passenger. Bartenders will cut you off but they know you only have to “walk back to your cabin,” not get in a vehicle and drive somewhere. The woman who chose to commit suicide had it all planned out. She was alone so as not to implicate anyone else. She jumped in a wide open, very deep sea area. I only pray her last days were enjoyable.
Steven Manning , is my son and I personally feel that there was foul play involved, and that the cruise lines should be more properly investigated