Cruise ship member reveals what code word means ‘man overboard’ - have you heard it? | Cruise | Travel | Express.co.uk

Cruise secrets: Ex cruise member reveals this codeword means something bad has happenedCRUISE ship holidays see passengers enjoying life on board and exploring different destinations while

cruise crew are hard at work. A former ship member has explained they sometimes used code words to communicate - and this one in particular means something bad had happened. By Harriet

Mallinson 04:01, Sat, Jun 29, 2019 Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Comments

often use code words to communicate with one another (Image: Getty Images)

Cruise ship crew members work on board their vessel for months at a time while holidaymakers come and go and enjoy their trip. If an emergency occurs crew will often use code words to

communicate with one another. Former cruise ship employee Joshua Kinser has revealed one that stood out the most to him during his career. He explained that overhearing this one name three

times meant something bad had happened.

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overboard’ - have you heard it?

Kinser told Express.co.uk that “Oscar, Oscar, Oscar” signified someone had fallen overboard.

“This only occurred a few times on the ships I was aboard, but it seems to happen much more aboard cruise liners than most passengers probably think,” he said.

“The main thing to avoid seems simple enough, but so many passengers do it, and that’s leaning over the rails of the cruise ship, or even worse, climbing over the rails or sitting on top of

the rails.”

The former crew member explained it was alarming how often he saw passengers risking life and limb.

“I’ve seen passengers sit on top of rails countless times,” Kinser told Express.co.uk.

“I’ve seen it most at the sail away parties at the beginning of cruises.

“It doesn’t take long for a crew member to spot this dangerous behaviour and inform the passenger that they shouldn’t be doing that.

“On one of my first nights aboard a cruise ship a passenger I had made friends with went to the front of the ship and climbed atop the rails.”

Since 2000, reports say roughly 300 people on cruise ships have fallen overboard, according to Cruise Junkie, with 17 cases in 2017.

Bearing in mind that more than 20 million people are a cruise each year this is not a high statistic.

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fallen overboard (Image: Getty Images)

Michael McGarry, senior vice president of public affairs at Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), said the incidents were "nearly always found to be the unfortunate result of

intentional or reckless acts”.

Kinser explains the importance of being careful after consuming alcohol.

“Another important tip is to try to avoid leaning over the rails and balcony rails if you’ve been drinking, especially in rough seas,” Kinser said.

“It seems many of the man overboard incidents that I read about in the news occur between midnight and 4am, and alcohol is often involved.”

A more realistic ship concern on a cruise holiday is fire, however. According to cruise ship worker Jay Herring: “The most dangerous and likely thing to go wrong is an onboard fire.”