44-year-old cruise passenger rescued after 20 hours in sea, Greek coastguard says

Published on 12/10/2026 - 16:58 GMT+2•Updated 16:59

The Greek coastguard announced on Monday that a 44-year-old woman who allegedly jump off a ship into the Ionian Sea has been rescued after spending 20 hours in the water.

The Royal Caribbean Odyssey of the Seas ship was sailing southwest of the Greek island of Zakynthos on Friday morning when the incident occurred, according to the coastguard.

A spokesperson for the authority told the AFP news agency that the woman, who is from El Salvador, said she jumped because "she wanted to disembark."

"She was 20 hours at sea," the officer said.

"During the search operations, an overturned circular lifebuoy was initially located, whilst in the early hours of yesterday morning the 44-year-old woman was found conscious inside the lifebuoy by the cargo ship ‘MSC Rossella III,' flying the flag of Madeira, which was taking part in the search operations," the coastguard said in a statement on Sunday.

A search and rescue vessel then retrieved the woman, who was given first aid treatment before later being taken to hospital, it added.