A cruise ship passenger died this week after being found unresponsive in a ship pool.
The 83-year-old man from Scotland was pulled out of the ship’s swimming pool during a port call in Italy. He was a guest on Marella Cruises’ Voyager.
Death Occurred During Naples Port Call
It happened during a stop in Naples. It is understood that the man was sitting by the edge of the pool and then fell in, possibly due to experiencing a medical episode.
Local media reports that he was pulled out of the water, and the ship crew made resuscitation attempts. However, he never regained consciousness.
Police then boarded the ship to conduct an investigation and interviewed relevant ship crew and guests for witness statements.
This led to Italian authorities placing a hold on the ship in port to complete the necessary procedures. The cruise ship was cleared to depart the port of Naples several hours later than planned.
Death Understood to Be From Natural Causes
Police later said it had found no evidence of any foul play in the death. The body was released for repatriation but no official cause of death has been disclosed yet.
“We can confirm that sadly a passenger passed away of natural causes onboard Marella Voyager. Our thoughts are with the passenger’s family during this difficult time, and our care team is providing assistance to them,” said Marella Cruises, which is part of Germany based travel firm TUI Group.
The 1,900-passenger Marella Voyager was on a week-long Mediterranean voyage which departed Palma de Mallorca, Spain on August 16.
It had scheduled port calls in Olbia in Sardinia, Rome, Ajaccio in Corsica, and Palamos in Spain before returning to Mallorca this weekend. Voyager is the line’s newest ship which launched in 2023.
The tragic news follows last week’s headline, where two guests in their 70s passed away at Carnival Cruise Line’s new destination, Celebration Key.
