Obviously you have to think about this when you’re about to book a cruise. The last thing you want is to arrive on board and find out that someone has died on the ship. There are several factors you’ll need to consider, such as the type of vessel, where it’s going and how long it’s taking to get there. These factors will determine what kind of action you’ll have to take.
Operation Rising Star
Upon hearing that someone has died on a cruise ship, the crew must follow a number of procedures. These are designed to ensure that the passenger is safely processed and returned home. The process can take days or weeks.
The first step in handling a death on a cruise ship is to notify the family. The guest care team will be assigned to help the family through this difficult time. The team is trained to support grieving loved ones. They will contact the deceased’s family and arrange for a death certificate to be issued.
The crew will then notify the United States Coast Guard of the incident. The US coast guard must be notified when any person dies on a cruise ship leaving U.S. ports. The United States Coast Guard also conducts investigations into a cruise ship death. The investigation team will examine CCTV footage of the crime scene and conduct interviews. They may board the cruise ship or fly to the next port to investigate.
After the investigation is complete, the body will be sent to the morgue. The morgue will hold the body until the family is able to bring it back home. The morgue will have a limit on how long it can store the body. Depending on the destination, the body can be kept until the return trip to the U.S. if the cruise is a Caribbean voyage.
The body will then be offloaded near the homeport. This is to avoid disturbing passengers. The ship will be cordoned off so that evidence can be preserved. The offloading of the body is usually early in the cruise. The bodies will then be transported to the port’s morgue.
If a passenger dies on a cruise ship, the crew will use the code “Operation Rising Star” to alert relevant crew members of the incident. Usually, the medical team is contacted to provide information about the death. They will then send the chaplain to the family to provide emotional support.
If a cruise passenger dies, the ship will have a morgue and body bags to keep the body. This is usually done early to avoid disturbing other passengers.
Morgue
Depending on the size of your cruise ship, it can hold as many as three or six bodies in its morgue. This room is typically stainless steel with several refrigerated compartments with shelves. It is separate from the food storage areas, and is usually inaccessible to cruise passengers.
Each cruise line has its own procedures for handling the death of a passenger. Most of the time, the death is natural, but it can also be caused by accidents or overdoses. Depending on the country, the cause of death is required to be declared.
When a passenger dies on a cruise ship, the crew has to determine where to put the body. Generally, a small morgue is used on the lower decks near medical facilities. If the small morgue is full, the crew will use the freezer.
A cruise ship morgue is not like the morgues you see on TV. It’s typically just a small room with a refrigerator and a few shelves. It holds bodies until the ship leaves the port. Often, it only has space for three or five bodies at a time.
Most countries have similar processes when it comes to declaring the cause of death. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requires that the agency be notified of a death on a cruise ship. It also requires the ship to report its passengers’ deaths to the US coast guard. The person who disembarks with the dead passenger must have a passport. This can be complicated for the next of kin.
A morgue is also needed to store the body until the family can bring it home. Most cruise lines have an assigned member to help bereaved families with travel arrangements. The person receives training in emotional support.
If you’re on a cruise, you’ll probably hear announcements from the crew if someone dies. These announcements include a code that alerts the crew of serious medical conditions. In the case of a murder, the code may be “operation bright star” or “operation rising star.”
If a cruise ship does not have a morgue, the crew will tell you where it is located. The room is a stainless steel, refrigerated room with multiple compartments and a few refrigeration units.
Retrieval from a foreign port
Having a loved one die on a cruise ship is never a fun experience. There are no guarantees that you will be able to retrieve their remains in a timely fashion, but there are steps you can take to mitigate that risk. The cruise line may have a morgue on board, and the local medical examiner is well within their powers to make you their own ode to departed loved ones.
Retrieval from a foreign port if someone dies on a cruise ship is not something you can plan for, but the process is no different than a medical procedure. Upon arrival at a port of call, the corpse is examined and a death certificate issued. The body is then transported to a hospital or cremation facility, whichever is appropriate. While the process might be lengthy, it’s well worth the wait. The cost of a prepaid cremation service may be prohibitive for some families, but it’s a worthwhile investment.
The best part of this whole process is knowing you’re not alone. As a matter of fact, a cruise company can often be contacted if you need someone to pick up the tab. It’s also important to know that you may not have to do the whole journey. Most major cruise lines have offices in the US, and the CDC will be happy to take care of the paperwork for you. If you’re lucky, you might even get a tour of their office, which is a big step up from the local slums.
Suicides and stunts
Sadly, suicides and stunts on cruise ships are on the rise. These incidents are usually committed by a known passenger, but there have been many more that have been unintentional. These are very rare, but they do happen. They are generally involving stabbings or pushing the victim into the ocean. This is why you see cruise lines try to shift the blame away from themselves.
The most recent case involved a 20 year old woman who jumped overboard in the early hours of the morning. The ship searched for her, and she was found by another ship. After an extensive search, she was flown to Miami. Her family was able to coordinate with the cruise line’s port agent, and she was repatriated to the United States. The case has since been picked up by all major news outlets. The case has also been investigated by the Alaskan State Troopers. The FBI ruled that she committed suicide.
Other cases that have been reported include a 60 year old German man who threw himself into the water when he was in the port of Georgetown, Cayman Islands. His body was recovered, and he was transported to the medical examiner’s office.
The most common causes of crew deaths are falls overboard or from height. These can be committed by both crew members and passengers. While the number of deaths may seem high, it’s important to remember that these are very rare events. There were about 200 deaths on cruise ships last year, and that number represents just a third of the total number of deaths on the ship. Moreover, the majority of the death victims were US citizens, while there were also more deaths among crew members from Asia, the Philippines, and India. These countries need to be targeted by travel health advisories.
If there’s any way to reduce the rate of these unfortunate incidents, it’s by adding mental health care to the infirmaries aboard these ships. This will help passengers and crew alike feel more comfortable, and will also help prevent suicides and stunts from happening onboard.