Cruise passenger rescued after 10 hours in the Adriatic
A British woman who fell overboard from a NCL cruise ship on Saturday was rescued 10 hours later.
Kay Longstaff, aged 46, fell from Norwegian Star off the coast of Croatia as the ship was making its way from Vargarola to Venice.
“The Coast Guard was notified and a search and rescue operation ensued,” said a spokeswoman for NCL.
“We are pleased to advise that the guest was found alive, is currently in stable condition, and has been taken ashore in Croatia for further treatment.
“We are very happy that the individual, who is a UK resident, is now safe and will soon be reunited with friends and family.”
The passenger was taken to hospital in Pula and told reporters she was ‘very lucky to be alive’.
She told rescuers she thought she’d managed to stay alive because she was fit, due to practising yoga, and she sang while in the sea overnight to distract herself from the cold.
The NCL spokeswoman said it was ‘actively working’ to assist guests whose travel plans were affected by the delay resulting from the search and rescue operation.
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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