Brief
Greek coast guard rescues El Salvador woman after 20‑hour drift off Zante
The woman, who jumped to disembark, was found by a ferry and lifted aboard a patrol boat on Saturday morning.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Greek coast guard officials say a 44‑year‑old woman from El Salvador was rescued early on Saturday after spending about 20 hours in the sea roughly 70 miles off the island of Zante.
What happened
According to the Dailymail report, the woman jumped overboard from the Royal Caribbean ship Odyssey of the Seas at around 6 a.m. on Friday while the vessel was sailing from Mykonos to Naples. She is said to have grabbed a lifebuoy and leapt from the 167,704‑gross‑ton cruise liner because she "wanted to disembark". The ship’s crew alerted Greek authorities, prompting the deployment of two coast‑guard vessels and a navy helicopter. The cruise ship also joined the search.
What the reports add
The article notes that passengers were informed of the incident at about 10 a.m. on Friday, when the captain announced that the ship had turned around to assist the search. A passenger‑recorded video shows the captain saying, "We have turned the ship around and we're working with the Greek Coast Guard to make sure that we find the lady…" Later, the captain announced that the woman had been located at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.
What was said
Bob Butler, an American passenger, told the outlet that the crew on the rescue craft could not initially locate the woman. In the same video, a man on board asks the woman if she is okay, and another passenger throws a rope that she uses to pull herself toward the patrol boat.
How it came about
The incident follows other recent cruise‑related emergencies, such as the missing passenger case covered by Felo News on 25 September 2026 and the medical evacuation on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas on 19 September 2026. Those stories highlighted the challenges of coordinating searches at sea and the protocols cruise lines follow when a passenger goes overboard.
Key facts
- A 44‑year‑old El Salvador woman jumped from the Odyssey of the Seas around 6 a.m. on 13 Oct 2026. (dailymail.co.uk)
- Greek coast guard rescued her early on 14 Oct 2026 after about 20 hours at sea. (dailymail.co.uk)
- The rescue occurred roughly 70 miles off the coast of Zante. (dailymail.co.uk)
- Two coast‑guard vessels and a navy helicopter were deployed, and the cruise ship joined the search. (dailymail.co.uk)
Sources
- [1] dailymail.co.uk — originally reported as “Moment cruise passenger found alive 20 HOURS after jumping from ship”
