LIFEBOAT FALLS One dead, four injured on Harmony of the Seas

Posted on 09/14/2016

Harmony of the Seas remains in Marseille after a crewmember died and four others were seriously injured – two are in critical condition - when a lifeboat fell from the fifth deck of the cruise ship Tuesday morning during a rescue drill.

Julien Ruas, a deputy mayor of Marseille, told The Associated Press that the lifeboat fell about 10 metres (33 feet) from the fifth deck of the Harmony of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, into the sea with the five crewmembers aboard. Circumstances of the accident are still unclear.
Local naval firefighters said one person died, two were seriously injured and two were more slightly injured in the “violent” fall. All were members of the crew.
“It seems the people didn't get the time to secure themselves so the fall was quite a violent one, like if you or me fell around 10 metres from a building,” Ruas, who is in charge of firemen, told The Associated Press. He said the reason the lifeboat broke away was not immediately clear.
The Miami-based Royal Caribbean cruise line “deplored” the death and said in a statement that the incident happened during a safety exercise while the ship was docked in the port of the Mediterranean city.
The Harmony of the Seas holds the record for the largest cruise ship ever built, with a capacity of 8,690 people, including 6,300 passengers and 2,390 crew members. The US $1 billion ship was built in France and set sail for its inaugural cruise in May.
At 362 metres (1,187 feet) long, the 16-deck ship is longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower. It's been compared to a floating city with more than 2,500 staterooms, 20 dining venues, 23 swimming pools, water slides, a park with more than 10,000 plants and 50 trees, two climbing walls, discos and bar clubs, a theatre, a skating rink, a basketball court and a casino.