Passenger fell from the cruise ship into the sea – now he reports a fight with an eerie creature

Created: 12/04/2022 11:36 am

By: Martina Lippl

The US Coast Guard released a video showing James Grimes (28) in the sea.

© USCG HEARTLAND

A cruise ship passenger died at sea for more than 20 hours.

The 28-year-old actually wanted to go to the toilet and woke up in the water.

New Orleans – The Coast Guard rescued a missing cruise ship passenger from the sea after a major search operation in the Gulf of Mexico.

The 28-year-old fell overboard the night before Thanksgiving from the US cruise ship Carnival Valor.

The Alabama man survived more than 20 hours at sea.

The authorities speak of a "Thanksgiving miracle".

The rescued cruise passenger can't remember falling off the ship.

Passenger fell from cruise ship: "I was in the water and no ship in sight"

He doesn't know how he ended up in the water, said James Grimes (28) in an interview with the American TV channel ABC.

The 28-year-old had taken part in an air guitar competition on the ship.

Then he wanted to go to the toilet.

That's the last thing he remembers.

"Next thing I know (...) I've regained consciousness.

I was in the water with no ship in sight," Grimes said.

Apparently he had lost consciousness and regained consciousness in the water.

Rescued cruise passenger describes dramatic experience

Alone in the dark, Grimes decided to make it out of the water.

He had the feeling that he had survived the fall into the water for a reason.

“So now you have to swim and survive.

I was hoping that they would look for me and eventually find me," says the 28-year-old.

"I wanted to see my family and was determined to get out of there.

I never accepted that this will be the end of my life.

I am 28 years old

I'm still young

It won't be," Grimes said.

Grimes was only a few hours aboard the Carnival Valor with his family.

The ship left the port of New Orleans (USA) for a five-day cruise to Mexico on Wednesday.

The young man was on board with his sister in a bar.

He also had a few drinks but wasn't drunk, Grimes told the ABC interview.

His sister didn't report him missing until Thanksgiving morning after he failed to return to his cabin that night.

The US Coast Guard released a video showing James Grimes (28) in the sea.

© USCG HEARTLAND

"It scared me...": 28-year-old describes contact with creature in the sea

In the sea, the 28-year-old not only fought against his exhaustion, but against an eerie creature.

He could see a fin.

"It came to me very quickly.

And I went under and I could see it.

And it wasn't a shark, I think.

But it had a rather flat mouth and it came up and bumped into one of my legs and I kicked it with the other leg.

It scared me because I didn't know what it was ... all I could see was a fin," he told ABC.

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A little later he saw a piece of wood "which looked like bamboo" floating in the water.

"I chewed on it.

That was good.” It was something other than salt water in his mouth.

As dusk fell, James Grimes was at the end of his rope.

"I was wondering how much longer I have to hold out."

US cruise ship Carnival Valor here in an archive photo in the port of San Juan (Puerto Rico).

© imago

After 20 hours at sea: Coast Guard rescues cruise passenger from the ocean

At 8:25 p.m. on November 24, a Coast Guard helicopter appeared.

A ship's crew had previously located the missing passenger 20 miles (approx. 32 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast.

Coast Guard footage shows a man waving in the water.

"Jayhawk flight crew lifted the man into the helicopter and took him to New Orleans Lakefront Airport to await emergency medical service," the Coast Guard said in a release.

"We are extremely grateful that this case ended in a positive outcome," said Lt.

Seth Gross, a search and rescue mission coordinator for the New Orleans Coast Guard.

The man was in stable condition.

Just a few months ago, a holidaymaker fell off a cruise ship off Mallorca.

The woman could not be saved