Man, 22, dies after jumping ship
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
A 22-year-old man who was on a whale-watching cruise died yesterday after he deliberately leaped into the ocean several miles off Waikiki.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Two crew members of the 108-foot American Dream went into the water to try to save the man. One of the would-be rescuers, also 22, was treated for exhaustion after the boat returned to Kewalo Basin.
A member of the American Dream crew who leaped into the ocean to try to rescue a man who jumped from the ship during a cruise, is treated at Kewalo Basin. The boat was stopped in the water, about 100 yards from a pair of whales, when the man jumped.
The passenger who leaped overboard was pronounced dead at Straub Clinic & Hospital. His name was not released.
Larry Anderson, a retired airline worker from Orlando, Fla., said he watched as the man walked out of the boat's forward cabin, holding his shoes in his hand, stepped over the railing and jumped.
Anderson said the boat was stopped in the water, with passengers watching as a mother whale and calf approached the boat from about 100 yards away.
The man "had been in the salon eating with the rest of us and he just jumped in," Anderson said. He estimated that he was no more than five feet from the man when he jumped.
"The guy was flailing around wildly — it was obvious he couldn't swim," he said.
Anderson, 57, credited the boat's crew members who he said tried valiantly to save the man.
"The waves were pretty large and they did a good job getting him out of the water," Anderson said.
He estimated the swells at about 5 feet or more and that the man and at least one of the rescuers were in the water for 10 to 15 minutes.
Anderson said the man jumped feet first, bobbed up and down several times and that crew members threw a life ring to him within 60 seconds.
The man went in the water at 10:18 a.m., according to a news release from Dream Cruises, which owns the American Dream.
The boat returned to its berth about 10:30 a.m. and was met by city firefighters and paramedics. The crew member who was in the water the longest was given oxygen as he sat in a city ambulance while rescuers performed CPR on the man who was pulled from the water.
Norman Hahn, a district supervisor for the city's Emergency Medical Services operation, credited one of the boat's crew members for trying to prevent the drowning.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
"He was in the water for 10 to 15 minutes and did an excellent job of trying to save the other man's life," Hahn said.
Firemen move the man who jumped ship several miles off Waikiki away from the American Dream cruise ship at Kewalo Basin. The man was taken to Straub Clinic & Hospital in Honolulu, where he was pronounced dead. His name was not released.
Mike Watson, company president, said the crew immediately went into a man overboard procedure after learning that one of the passengers had gone into the water.
Watson said the boat had "stopped dead in the water" so passengers could look at the whales.
"As the whales were swimming closer, the young man decided to go out and jumped over the railing," Watson said.
He said the man appeared to be part of a family group of four people.
"All of us at Dream Cruises are shocked and deeply saddened by this tragic event, and our hearts go out to the man's family," said Watson.
The company has offered counseling services to any passengers or crew members who might need assistance, a company news release said.
The boat was involved in a tragic death 14 months ago, but no one had ever jumped overboard deliberately before, he said.
Watson said the American Dream complies with all Coast Guard regulations and is equipped with 42-inch high railings designed to keep both adults and children from falling overboard.
Dream Cruises, which owns the American Dream, was recently fined $5,500 for a violation related to the death of a 3-year-old boy during a Dec. 25, 2003, whale-watch cruise.
Ryker Hamilton of Norfolk, Va., was aboard the American Dream with his parents and grandparents when the vessel struck a humpback whale about a mile east of Diamond Head Buoy. The boy, who was in his father's arms, was jolted forward and struck his neck and head on a deck railing. The pair then fell backward and Ryker's head hit the deck. An autopsy determined the child died almost immediately when his spine was severed.
A Coast Guard investigation revealed that the boat captain was busy adjusting the volume of the public address system on the American Dream and "failed to maintain safe navigation" with whales nearby.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-7412.
