The public may never know the full details surrounding the death of a passenger who reportedly jumped from the world’s largest cruise ship earlier this month.
Under maritime law, Royal Caribbean is not obligated to release the findings of its investigation into the death of the passenger on the Icon of the Seas.
The law allows the company, and other cruise lines — to downplay details that might cast them in a negative light, said Florida-based lawyer Keith Brais, whose firm specializes injuries and incidents at sea.
“They wouldn’t even need to report on how much alcohol might have been involved if it makes them look bad,” he told The Post.
Royal Caribbean has not commented on the specific details of the incident and has only expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased.
The US Coast Guard in Miami said it assisted with the search, but it is not involved in the investigation into the passenger’s death.
Deaths on cruise ships are rare — but unique circumstances of a floating city in international waters — the Icon of the Seas can carry up to 7,000 people — means that they are not handled like deaths on land.
What happens to someone who dies on a cruise ship?
When an unidentified man jumped from Royal Caribbean’s new 1,200-foot-long Icon of the Seas on the first day of a seven-day voyage on Sunday, a rescue boat from the ship found him and brought him back aboard.
Passengers were initially told that the man was in the intensive care unit, but the Coast Guard confirmed to The Post that he died.
The Icon of the Seas proceeded on its voyage around the Gulf of Mexico after the incident.
It’s not clear where the man’s body is now, but it was likely taken to the ship’s morgue until it can be transferred to authorities on land, Brais said.
The ship has stopped in Honduras and Mexico, and is set for one more port of call in the Bahamas before it returns to Miami on Saturday.
Who investigates deaths at sea?
While the US Coast Guard assisted Royal Caribbean in the search and rescue of the man who fell overboard, officials said it was the cruise line’s rescue boat that ultimately found and transported the body, and it would be up to the company to investigate the case.
Brais said Royal Caribbean is not required to release its findings to the public, adding that it is rare for a company to publish anything that could make them seem liable for the death.
“As a result, the cruise line is likely to find that the passenger’s death resulted from ‘natural causes,’ even if the totality of the circumstances at hand suggests otherwise,” according to his law firm.
Braise noted that in his decades of experience in the industry and law, alcohol is involved in the majority of cases.
Royal Caribbean did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Does the family have any recourse about the investigation?
The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety act, which was passed in 2010, mandates that cruises not only follow strict regulations to ensure passengers are safe, but to also track crimes aboard their ships.
In regards to Sunday’s incident, Brais said the man’s family should look at whether Royal had the proper barriers in place to keep people from falling overboard and if they had Man-Overboard cameras installed that alerted them to the incident.
Even if Royal Caribbean was found to be negligent in the man’s death, the compensation could be limited to just covering funeral expenses under the Death of the High Seas Act, Brais added.
How common are deaths on cruise ships?
It can be difficult to determine how many deaths have occurred on cruise ships as it’s up to the companies to report such incidents.
According to the Department of Transportation’s Cruise Line Incident reports, there have only been four deaths aboard major cruise lines between January 2020 to March 2024.
Despite these numbers, Brais said it’s not rare for such man overboard stories to make headlines once every three weeks.
According to cruise expert Dr. Ross Klein, who maintains a master list of media reports of incidents where passengers have gone overboard, there have been at least 410 people who have fallen off cruises or ferries in the last 24 years.
Icon of the Seas death is the second so far this year aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise. In April, a drunk 20-year-old passenger reportedly jumped to his death from the Liberty of the Seas following a dispute with his father.
