A 73-year old female passenger who was travelling on the Holland America Line (HAL) ship, the Nieuw Amsterdam, died last week in a jet ski accident in the Bahamas over the weekend. 

The woman smashed into a rock when she lost control, Bahamian officials said.  According to the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), the ship was visiting the renamed private destination “RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay” – formerly Half Moon Cay – when the accident happened. The cruise ship had departed from Fort Lauderdale on March 16th.

A cruise line spokesperson told The New York Post that the cruise ship had stopped for a day on the private island when the unfortunate accident occurred.

It was reported that the 73-year-old British/Czechoslovakia national lost control of the jet ski and crashed into a rock on Saturday afternoon at the private island.

The U.S. government warns against using jet skis in certain non-U.S. countries due to “improper equipment, lack of certifications, and unqualified staff can lead to injuries or even death.”

In an emailed statement, a Holland American Line spokesman told USA TODAY the following: “Holland America Line regrets to confirm that a passenger onboard Nieuw Amsterdam passed away following a tragic incident on a personal watercraft. We are in contact with the guest’s family and doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time. The accident is currently being investigated by the Bahamian authorities. Out of respect for the family and guest, we do not have further information to share.”

The Bahamas Travel Advisory published by the U.S. State Department warns against use of jet skis by tourists due to “injuries and fatalities:”

“Activities involving commercial recreational watercraft, including water tours, are not consistently regulated. Watercraft may be poorly maintained, and some operators may not have safety certifications.  Always review and heed local weather and marine alerts before engaging in water-based activities. Commercial watercraft operators have discretion to operate their vessels regardless of weather forecasts; injuries and fatalities have occurred. Due to these safety concerns, U.S. government personnel are not permitted to use independently operated jet-ski rentals on New Providence and Paradise Islands.”

These type of warning typically apply to excursion operation conducted by private companies outside of the U.S. We have covered many jet ski mishaps involving independent contractors in the Bahamas. But the comments about jet ski excursions not being regulated and involving poor maintenance and operated during rough weather apply also when the excursions are operated directly by the cruise line, which seems to be the situation here.

Holland America Line advertises “personal sit-on watercraft” trips at a price of $94.95 for what is advertised as a 30-minute ride at Half Moon Cay. You can read a description of activity on the cruise line’s website here – Aqua Trax Adventure PortHalf Moon Cay, Bahamas. (We have saved this information in the event that HAL or Carnival Corporation scrub this internet site as they have done following other mishaps). The photo below is directly from the HAL description of this excursion at Half Moon Cay.

Online photo by HAL of Aqua Trax (jet ski) Adventure Half Moon Cay (renamed RelaxAway Cay)

The online review are mixed, with many guests commenting on dangerous safety issues, including minimal and poor safety training and instruction. There are currently 313 online reviews. Here is a small sample of some of the comments regarding safety dangers:

• “There isn’t much instructions, other than “here is the power on button and throttle using right handle . . .
• We didn’t get much training – and an older lady on the trip came back at the end saying that she felt uncomfortable and unprepared (which I could understand) . . .
• During the jetski tour, I encountered several safety issues that greatly impacted my overall experience. The tour guides did not provide adequate instruction on how to operate the jetski safely, and there was a lack of supervision throughout the excursion. This negligence led to several instances where participants, including myself, were put in potentially dangerous situations.
• Scary to say the least, after a very short ‘safety’ lecture and being told to ‘stay together’ and no ‘funny’ business while on the jet ski’s, the lead vendor took off at full throttle with his second assistant vendor not too far behind. I was at the back of the group and within minutes was BY MYSELF out in the ocean and for several portions completely out of sight of the rest of the group . . .
• The ocean segment was much too rough and the guide again ran off and left us . . .
• I would’ve liked a little more instruction on the operation of the jet ski, as well as some pointers on what to expect and how to handle the wakes . . . one member of our group never got the hang of it resulting in him running into another member when he abruptly decided to turn around as we got into rougher water.
• What we thought was going to be a slow paced, guided sightseeing excursion proved to be exactly the opposite – roaring around the lagoon at top speed . . .
• The guides were a bit short and had poor communication skills. The lead ran off and left everyone making it very hard to follow the track . . .
• Just a couple of sentences of operation instructions and they shoved us off . . .
• Fun until a guest hit me with his jetski after showboating and not following initial instructions. This caused significant injuries to me that holland america cared nothing about. 3 weeks later still having imaging and tests to see full extent of damage.
• Must admit it was an adventure (a white knuckle adventure). My sister and I have never been on a jet ski before and the instruction given for operation was really minimal.” 

The numerous online articles do not mention whether this particular jet ski excursion was within the lagoon or in the ocean outside the protected area. Nor is there any mention of the details of any safety instructions and/or the location of the rock which this passengers apparently struck. It is also unknown whether the jet ski operators responsible for the training and instruction were HAL crew members or local Bahamians not employed directly by HAL.

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Image credit: Nieuw Amsterdam – Master0Garfield CC0 commons / wikimedia; jet ski at Half Moon Cay – Holland America Line.