MIRACLE RESCUE

Fishermen Save Cruise Ship Pianist After 9 Hours at Sea

The cruise ship employee says he thought he was going to die.

Two fishermen rescued a Royal Caribbean cruise ship pianist nearly 20 miles off Newport Beach in the Pacific Ocean. The man was treading water and is believed to have been stranded at sea for about nine hours before they found him. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a human being. Stop the boat; let’s get all of our lines in,” one of the fishermen, Grant Garrett, was quoted telling CBS News. “Grant and I each got an arm and lifted him up,” Sean Norton said. “He was in total shock.” The man, whose identity has not been revealed, was hospitalized and is expected to survive. “The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,’” Norton recalled. The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating how the man ended up overboard from the “Ovation of the Seas” ship. “[W]e are providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time. To respect the privacy of our employee, we have no additional details to share,” a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said in a statement.