Missing Filipino cruise ship staffer picked up alive at sea off Cuba

Norwegian Getaway cruise ship from where a Filipino crew member fell overboard. He was rescued at sea. WEBSITE

MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard has found a missing Filipino crewmember who went overboard from a cruise ship near Cuba.

Coast Guard officials said the 33-year-old Filipino crew member was seen going overboard on the Norwegian Getaway on Saturday about 28 miles northwest of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. The unidentified crewmember was found Sunday by the Carnival Glory and is in stable condition.

The crewmember apparently treaded water for almost 22 hours before being spotted.  Carnival spokeswoman Ann Marie Matthews told The Associated Pressthe 33-year-old man didn’t have any safety device on when he was picked up by the Carnival Glory on Sunday afternoon. She says they “can only surmise that he was likely treading water the entire time.”

Officials dispatched planes and a cutter that searched more than 1,630 square miles.

“The Carnival Glory had found someone in the water waving their arms and they rescued him and he was the missing Norwegian crewmember and that was roughly about 21 miles north of Cuba,” said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Jonathan Lally, according to CBS Miami.

Cellphone video captured passengers cheering as the cruise ship worker was found. Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy called the rescue “nothing short of miraculous.”

The U.S. Coast Guard says it received a report Saturday around 3:20 p.m. that a 33-year-old Filipino crewmember went overboard 28 miles northwest of Cuba.

Passengers aboard the Norwegian Getaway say they watched the search efforts.

“We saw the cruise ship made a U-turn and started heading back we noticed that the crewmembers were using binoculars trying to find the crewmember in the ocean,” said passenger Eddy Lowinger.

“One of the things that the Coast Guard could never calculate when it comes to in search and rescue is the person’s will to live,” said Lally.

The U.S. Coast Guard CBS Miamithe Carnival Glory’s next port of call is Cozumel, Mexico and that’s where the crew member is expected to disembark.