Question from someone who has never been on a boat longer than 30 feet. What is the procedure for man overboard? These big ships presumably don’t stop or turn on a dime.
My training ship had a fast rescue boat because the cargo was the people. I think cruise ships do as well.
Merchant vessels, someone needs to see or hear you fall. Whoever sees you is to throw flotation overboard and point and never take their eyes off you while someone alerts the wheelhouse. The ship will the perform a Williamson turn and sound the man overboard whistle. Crew reports to the their emergency stations.
This is pure speculation, but I’d imagine they’d lower a lifeboat in order to search, because as you said, turning around an entire ship would be difficult.
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u/Langosta_9er Apr 15 '26
Question from someone who has never been on a boat longer than 30 feet. What is the procedure for man overboard? These big ships presumably don’t stop or turn on a dime.