A crew emergency drill on the Carnival Venezia unexpectedly turned into a real rescue operation after a crew member went overboard while the cruise ship was docked at the Charlotte Amalie in St Thomas US Virgin Islands. The incident happened on May 10, during a routine drill which the crew performs weekly. Typically, these drills are conducted when most passengers disembark at a port of call. However, Linda Spanky Warhaftig who was on board and is one of the admins of the Faceboog group COPs - Cruisers Opinion Page, witnessed the man overboard (MOB) event and shared photos and a video of the incident.

The crew member involved was not participating in the drill, but was performing maintenance at the aft of the ship, when he fell overboard. The ship's officers immediately launched a rescue boat and retrieved the crew member. An announcement was made over the ship's PA system informing everyone on board that this emergency situation was not part of the drill.

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“We just had a man overboard. It was NOT a guest but a crew member working on maintenance. He is okay! This ship is amazing! They activated the emergency procedures and everyone responded flawlessly. This happened in the middle of a drill! They lowered a lifeboat to make it easier to get him back on board. Even for something as straightforward as this rescue, the crew member's retrieval involved every high-ranking officer. Kudos to this ship's competent, swift response and professionalism,” Linda posted on the COPs page.

From the video, you can see that the crew member was wearing his work jumpsuit, shoes, and work gloves. His vest is an auto-inflate type, which is typically worn by maintenance crew while on duty, working on the ship's hull.