Cruise drama: Passenger airlifted in ocean rescue operation
The P&O cruise ship was forced to skip a destination on its route after one of the passengers suffered a severe medical emergency onboard. Moments later, everyone watched as a helicopter approached the ship.
The Pacific Explorer P&O set sail from Auckland on 1 October, stopping at Norfolk Island in Australia before visiting several islands in Vanuatu. On Tuesday, 8 October, the ship anchored at Mystery Island, one of the archipelago's southernmost islands.
The ship had to leave port due to an ill passenger
Passengers were supposed to leave the ship at 8:30 AM (local time) and spend one day on the island before the ship returned to Auckland. One of the passengers told the Herald that 10 minutes before disembarkation, the captain announced that someone had suffered a serious medical emergency and passengers were no longer allowed to leave the ship.
The crew tried to find a solution by involving the authorities of Vanuatu and New Caledonia to send a helicopter or plane to Mystery Island to pick up the passenger and take them to a hospital for proper treatment. This, however, failed.
The ship had to leave Mystery Island for a seven-hour journey to Maré in New Caledonia. The French army sent a military helicopter there to take the passenger from the cruise ship to Nouméa for treatment.
The passenger in need was taken from the ship by a military aircraft
In recordings by passengers, you can see the moment of the incident where the ill passenger is taken by helicopter. "Hundreds of people stood up on the top deck to get a view, but frankly, everyone was just hoping the person would be okay," a passenger told the Herald.
"The timing was unlucky. If they had fallen unwell in Port Vila or Norfolk Island, it would have been an easy trip to seek medical treatment. They just happened to get sick at the one place furthest away from medical attention. I don’t know how common or rare this is, but it’s pretty wild to think someone had to be plucked from a moving ship in the middle of the ocean," the passenger reported.
A spokesperson for P&O Cruises Australia issued a statement regarding the rescue operation, saying, "Pacific Explorer cancelled a visit to Mystery Island yesterday (Tuesday) because a guest needed urgent medical attention. The guest was cared for by our onboard team until the medical evacuation could take place, off New Caledonia. We thank the authorities in New Caledonia for assisting us. We thank our guests for their understanding," the statement said.
