A chilling simulation has detailed exactly what would happen if you were to fall from a cruise ship.
Cruises are often marketed as a perfect escape, and every year huge numbers of Americans book trips in search of sunshine and downtime.
But even on vacations built around comfort and leisure, things can still go wrong at sea.
A disturbing animated simulation shared by Instagram account Axiom 3D lays out the likely chain of events if someone goes overboard — and the outlook is bleak.
In the clip, an animated figure plunges into open water as the narrator explains: “What happens if you fall from a cruise ship and no one sees you? First, you hit the water at 30 miles per hour. It feels like concrete.”
According to the video, the shock of the impact is immediately followed by the body’s reaction to cold water, and without a life jacket the situation can deteriorate quickly.
Even if the person in the water shouts, the simulation claims the ‘noise of the propellers’ can overwhelm their voice.
The video adds that the ship becomes a distant silhouette within minutes. The narrator continues: “Then it’s gone, you are alone in the pitch black. The freezing water instantly saps your body heat. By hour one, exhaustion and terror take over.”
As the reality of the surrounding ocean sinks in — including the depth below — the narration turns darker, describing the kind of fear that can set in when you’re isolated at night and “then you feel something brush against your leg’.
Incidents like this are more frequent than many realize. Between 2009 and 2019, 212 people reportedly went overboard, yet only 48 were successfully rescued.
So what typically happens if crew members determine that someone has fallen from the ship?
Procedure generally begins with a ‘man overboard’ alert sent to the bridge, after which staff may announce ‘Code Oscar’ over the vessel’s public address system.
Once the location is logged, the ship can turn back, increasing speed within safe limits, while other nearby vessels may be contacted to help search the area.
Rescue teams may also put life rafts and smaller rescue craft into the water, while designated lookouts scan the surface from higher decks to spot any sign of the missing person.
At the same time, crew trained for emergencies are typically assigned to support the friends and relatives of the person who has gone overboard while the search effort continues.