A 35 year-old crew member from India reportedly died after going overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship which was calling on a Croatian port four days ago.

On September 22, 2019, Mansley Pereira, who was employed as a waiter by the Miami-based cruise line, went overboard while the Rhapsody of the Seas was in the port of Dubrovnik.

Several friends of Mr. Pereira contacted Cruise Law News inquiring into the details of his death.

They supplied several photographs and videos of a rescue boat responding to the man overboard situation, as well as a photo and video of a dozen of other crew members who positioned themselves on the adjacent pier trying to rescue Mr. Pereira.

A portion of a video was posted on Twitter, after other crew members pulled Mr. Pereira onto the rescue vessel. Once on the rescue boat, Mr. Pereira is shown on the video with  what appears to be at least one other crew member giving him chest compressions.

We are not showing the entire video which shows the crew of the rescue boat pulling Mr. Pereira into the boat, as it is graphic.

The photograph to the right appears to show passengers and other crew members looking over the side of the cruise ship as the rescue/recovery efforts were underway at the port in Croatia.

Mr. Pereira lived in the village of Chinchinimn in Southwest Goa, India. He is married with two young children. He is survived by his parents and brother and related family members and inlaws. He reportedly spoke to his family by telephone earlier on the day of his death, appearing to them to be in good spirits. The local newspaper indicates that his family disputes that Mr. Pereira decided to end his own life.

To our knowledge, there is no video or CCTV of Mr. Pereira going overboard. We are not aware of any eye-witnesses to him going overboard.

A newspaper in India, the Herald in Goa, reported that Mr. Pereira was a seaman for several years. His employer, Royal Caribbean, claims that “Mansley committed suicide by jumping into the sea.”

Several dozens of Royal Caribbean ship employees have gone overboard over the past ten years. A couple of year ago, I wrote about the problem of crew members going missing from Royal Caribbean cruise ships without explanation. During a period of less than four years between 2009 and 2013, at least thirteen crew members went over the rails of Royal Caribbean (and Celebrity) ships, including the Majesty of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas (twice), Radiance of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas. Oasis of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Celebrity Constellation, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Summit, and Monarch of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas (two). Most of these cases were never investigated by the flag state, which, it seems, could not care less.

The majority of the crew members appeared to have ended their lifes intentionally and/or they disappeared mysteriously.  A  Royal Caribbean crew member went overboard from the Majesty of the Seas in January of this year.

A young Celebrity Cruises officer hung himself on the Celebrity Millennium, on December 6, 2018.

Another Royal Caribbean crew member, a performer, age 20, of the United Kingdom, went overboard from the Harmony of the Seas the day after Christmas of 2018.

A Royal Caribbean crew member disappeared from the Adventure of the Seas at the end of November of last year.

A crew member went overboard from the Celebrity Reflection in October of 2018.

A Royal Caribbean crew member went overboard in an apparent suicide from the Vision of the Seas in December of 2017.

A Royal Caribbean crew member went overboard from the Liberty of the Seas in April of 2017.

A Royal Caribbean crew member went overboard from the Independence of the Seas in August of 2014,

A Celebrity crew member disappeared at sea from the Celebrity Constellation in January of 2014.

In total, at least twnty-two (22) crew members went overboard from Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise ships in the ten year period from 2009 to the present. Most cases involve suicides. Yet, Royal Caribbean does not employ mental health counselors on its fleet of cruise ships.

The Rhapsody of the Seas is near the end of a seven days cruise. It departed on September 21st from Venice, Italy and arrived in Dubrovnik, Croatia on September 22nd.  The ship subsequently sailed to Kotor, Montenagro and arrived in Santorini, Greece yesterday. It will call on Katakolon, Greece today and return to Venice on Saturday, September 28, 2019.

If you have information regarding the circumstances of Mr. Pereira’s death, please contact us. We will place you in contact with Mr. Pereira’s family and/or friends.

Send your respects and/or join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Photo/video credit: Top – Mayurdatt Shanti Vassudev Lotlikar; middle and bottom – anonymous friends of Mansley Pereira.