New Caledonian rescue services carried out a series of four medical evacuations from Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas within a 24-hour period, an unusual and nearly unprecedented sequence of events.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a 9-year-old girl from a cruise ship 170 miles offshore of Galveston, Texas, on Monday, officials confirmed.
According to U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Houston, the crew responded to a medical emergency aboard the vessel, successfully airlifting the child to UTMB Health - University of Texas Hospital in Galveston for further treatment.
The girl was reported to be in stable condition, though no further details have been released regarding the nature of her medical emergency.
The crew of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas rescued 11 migrants adrift in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday after spotting their vessel in distress. The refugees, found floating between Cuba and Mexico, were brought aboard the cruise ship, where they received medical care, food, water, and warm clothing.
Three Australian passengers aboard Quantum of the Seas were medically evacuated in two separate rescue operations during the ship’s eight-day South Pacific cruise. The maritime gendarmerie patrol boat operated by the Armed Forces in New Caledonia, coordinated the evacuations on Wednesday, February 19, transferring all three individuals to Médipôle for urgent medical care.
Carnival Vista crew member sustained an injury on Thursday, forcing the cruise ship to make an unexpected return to St. Thomas shortly after departing.
The incident occurred after the cruise ship left Charlotte Amalie, where it had been docked since 7 a.m. Instead of continuing its scheduled itinerary, Carnival Vista turned back to the West Indian Company (WICO) dock to allow the injured crew member to receive medical attention on land.
The Italian Coast Guard successfully carried out a medical evacuation on February 5, rescuing a 33-year-old female passenger who suffered a stroke while on board the cruise ship Costa Toscana. The emergency took place while the ship was sailing from Palma de Mallorca to Palermo, approximately 20 miles south of Cape Teulada.
Ship officers alerted the Operations Section of the Cagliari Coast Guard, which deployed AW139 Nemo 11-05 helicopter from the Decimomannu Air Section.
A crew member aboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess was airlifted after suffering a serious eye injury while the vessel was sailing off the coast of New Zealand. The emergency occurred on January 30, 2025, while the ship was en route from Brisbane, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand.
The Northland Rescue Helicopter successfully coordinated the medical evacuation in response to the severity of the crew member's condition. Authorities have not disclosed the nationality or position of the injured crew member.
At 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 7, an urgent alert was issued from the Crown Princess sailing from Fiji to Australia. The vessel was located 210 nautical miles southeast of the Isle of Pines when a passenger required immediate medical attention.
A man was airlifted from the cruise ship ms Zaandam early Tuesday morning, about 50 miles off the coast of Oahu. The U.S. Coast Guard responded after receiving a call from the ship’s doctor, reporting that the 32-year-old man was showing signs of a stroke. The ship was approximately 330 miles northeast of Oahu when the request for help came in on Monday morning.
Last month, the Brazilian Navy, through its Northeast Maritime Search and Rescue Service (Salvamar Nordeste), successfully coordinated the urgent medical evacuation of a Filipino crew member, Marapau Rogelio Sumabong, from the Portuguese-flagged cruise ship Ocean Endeavor. The vessel was en route from Canada to Montevideo, Uruguay, when the emergency arose.
