Fishermen pull cruise pianist from open sea

The employee, whose name has not been released, told the fishermen he was a pianist on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, according to The Independent, which cited CBS Los Angeles and local officials. Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda told CBS Los Angeles the man may have been in the water for about nine hours before he was found. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to The Independent that a conscious person had been recovered.

The fishermen, Sean Norton and Grant Garrett, had been out looking for marlin when they saw him. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a human being. Stop the boat. Let’s get all of our lines in,’” Garrett told CBS Los Angeles, according to The Independent. Norton said the man was “in total shock” and recalled him saying: “Thank you. I thought I was gonna die.”

Once he was out of the water, the fishermen put out an emergency call and Newport Beach lifeguards responded. The man was taken to hospital and is expected to survive, CBS Los Angeles reported, citing the Coast Guard, though his current condition was not publicly detailed.

How he entered the water is still unclear. The Independent reported that local authorities believe he may have gone overboard, but the account it cited did not establish what happened before that.

One detail in the rescue stands out because it came from the men who found him, not from a polished company statement. Norton told CBS Los Angeles that unusually warm water may have helped keep the pianist alive. The Independent tied that comment to warm Pacific conditions off California. That does not settle why he survived, but it helps explain why a man alone in open water for hours was still there to be seen.

Royal Caribbean said it was providing support and assistance to the crew member and declined to share more, citing his privacy.