Passenger evacuated from Ovation of the Seas off British Columbia
Canadian search-and-rescue crews transported an ill passenger to a Victoria hospital during the ship’s Alaska voyage.
A passenger was evacuated from Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas one day after the ship left Vancouver on an eight-day cruise to Seward, Alaska. The traveler became ill and required treatment on land while the vessel was about 52 nautical miles northwest of Tofino, British Columbia.
After the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria received an evacuation request, a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and a CC-295 Kingfisher search-and-rescue aircraft reached the ship shortly before 7:30 p.m.
Video supplied by the Canadian Armed Forces showed the passenger’s spouse being hoisted into the helicopter first. Crews then lifted the patient from the ship on a stretcher and transported the passenger to a hospital in Victoria.
JRCC Victoria said it worked with local Emergency Health Services and aircrews to carry out the helicopter hoist, with support from the fixed-wing aircraft, and deliver the patient to a hospital. Officials did not identify the passenger, describe the illness or provide an update on the patient’s condition.
Royal Caribbean did not say whether the emergency affected the remaining itinerary. Ship-tracking information indicated Ovation of the Seas later reached Seward and began its next scheduled voyage on August 14.