A crew member died after going overboard from the Regal Princess during the early hours of Monday, July 13, 2026. The Princess Cruises ship was sailing off the coast of Cancún, Mexico when the tragedy occurred.
Link to No Automatic Man Overboard System No Automatic Man Overboard System
The Regal Princess, along with all other Princess Cruises ships, does not have an automatic man overboard system. Man overboard systems immediately alert the bridge when a person goes overboard and use technologies that track the person in the water such as thermal cameras or drones. The technologies save lives by reducing rescue times from hours to minutes.
Man overboard systems are required by law to be installed on cruise ships pursuant to the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010. Despite this, nearly all major cruise lines do not install the life saving systems on their ships.
Link to The Incident The Incident
The Regal Princess’ captain announced a man overboard alert just before 6:00 AM local time. No information has been released about how the ship learned that the crew member had gone overboard. Tracking data shows the Regal Princess turned around and searched for nine hours before sailing toward its next stop in Belize City around 3:00 PM local time.
The Carnival Jubilee assisted in the search, according to a statement by Princess Cruises. Ship tracking data shows the Carnival Jubilee sailing through the same search area covered by the Regal Princess, although it is unclear if the Carnival Jubilee deployed rescue boats.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the crew’s family and friends during this difficult time. Grief support services are being offered to guests and crew members affected by this event. Princess Cruises thanks the local maritime authorities and our colleagues from Carnival Jubilee who assisted in search and rescue efforts,” Princess Cruises said in the statement.
The crew member has been identified as a casino employee with some other ship employees suggesting that he was from Jamaica. No officials information has been released by Princess about the crew member’s identity or the events leading up to the incident.
This is the 439th person overboard from a cruise ship or large ferry since year 2000, according to cruise expert Dr. Ross Klein. There have been over 300 man overboard incidents from cruise ships since the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, which required the installation of automatic man overboard devices, became effective.
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