MAIB: Response to Saphire Princess Drowning Incident Was Delayed

The lack of dedicated pool attendants potentially delayed the response to the drowning incident from 2014 on board the Saphire Princess in respect of raising an alarm and administering appropriate medical treatment, a report of the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) shows.

The monitoring of CCTV coverage of the area might have prompted an earlier response and would have given post-incident information, MAIB said.

What is more, there was also a delay in administering first-aid medical treatment to the victim.

“There was a short delay in the emergency team response due to language difficulties between crew members and, until the emergency team arrived, limited attempts to perform CPR2 were carried out by passengers,” MAIB report shows.

On 7 August 2014, a passenger was noticed floating face down in a swimming pool on board the passenger vessel Sapphire Princess.

Despite rescue and resuscitation attempts by passengers and crew, the victim was pronounced deceased shortly after. In the absence of a dedicated pool attendant, the initial alert was raised by passengers using the swimming pool.

Nearby passengers and crew responded, and the on board emergency services were summoned by telephone.

At the time of the incident, Sapphire Princess was on a scheduled cruise from Shanghai to Jeju, South Korea, with 2,998 passengers embarked.

As a result of the findings Princess Cruise Lines Ltd is recommended to improve safety in the use of ships’ swimming pools throughout its fleet following the drowning incident.

Princess Cruise Lines has also been recommended to ensure its hotel staff (including stewards, shop staff, hairdressers and entertainers) receive sufficient training and information to take immediate action upon encountering an accident or other medical emergency before seeking further medical assistance on board.