A young woman fell to her death from a cruise ship near the Channel Islands early Saturday morning, October 12, 2024, authorities have confirmed.
The incident occurred aboard the MSC Virtuosa, a massive vessel carrying over 6,000 passengers traveling from Portugal to England. According to the French Coast Guard, the woman in her 20s went overboard just after midnight.
The MSC Virtuosa sent a distress call shortly after the woman fell overboard near Les Casquets rocks, west of Alderney. French rescue services quickly mobilized, with a French Navy H160 helicopter dispatched from Maupertus-sur-Mer to assist in the search and rescue mission.
“Channel Islands Air Search were called out early this morning and requested to assist Jobourg MRCC in the search for a person overboard,” the voluntary Channel Islands Air Search group stated in a Facebook post, detailing their involvement in the operation. Their search aircraft, Lions’ Pride, departed from Guernsey around 2 a.m. to join the search effort.
The woman was located and retrieved from the water around 3 a.m. and transported to a rescue center in Tourlaville, France. She was pronounced dead upon arrival at the facility. The woman’s identity has not been disclosed.
One of the passengers, who requested to be identified only as Neil, shared his account of the unsettling event. He described how alarms sounded throughout the ship, signaling that someone had gone overboard. “I went up along with lots of other passengers to have a look,” Neil recounted. “About half an hour later the cruise director told us they were looking for a missing passenger, so we would be delayed into Southampton.”
MSC Cruises, the owner of the Virtuosa, issued a statement expressing condolences: “This tragic event deeply saddens us, and our thoughts are with the family during this difficult time. Out of respect for their privacy, we will not be providing further details.”
The French and British authorities are currently investigating the incident. The MSC Virtuosa, flagged in Malta, is among the largest cruise ships in the world, with a length of over 1,000 feet and a capacity for more than 6,300 passengers and 1,700 crew members. It docked in Southampton on Saturday morning, where officials continued their inquiries into the woman’s death.
For those who witnessed the scene, the somber mood was palpable. Passengers were asked to keep the young woman in their thoughts. The tragedy left many shaken, as a once-ordinary night at sea took a devastating turn.