Emergency Medivac on Regal Princess Cruise Ship Off Cornwall
A cruise liner that set sail from Southampton over the weekend was forced to declare an emergency, triggering a dramatic medical evacuation off the Cornish coast.
Lifeboat Rescue Saves Sick Passenger
On Monday morning, the 141,000-ton Regal Princess, carrying more than 3,000 passengers, diverted to Falmouth from its Round Britain cruise after a passenger fell gravely ill. The ship had departed Southampton at 4 PM on Sunday and was en route to Cobh, County Cork, when the emergency unfolded.
Falmouth pilot Captain Alex Head boarded the Regal Princess near the Manacles, guiding it safely to Pendennis Point. There, the Falmouth lifeboat, led by Coxswain Luke Wills, pulled alongside to evacuate the patient.
Swift RNLI Operation Saves the Day
The Falmouth Coastguard alerted lifeboat crews shortly after 8 AM to assist. An RNLI spokesperson explained: “Our crew waited in the boathouse until the ship entered safe waters in Falmouth Bay. Two ambulance paramedics boarded the lifeboat ‘Richard Cox Scott’, which then reached the Regal Princess at 10:45 AM.”
“Paramedics and crew members went aboard the cruise ship, assessed the casualty, and escorted them safely back to the lifeboat. The patient was then transferred to a waiting ambulance for hospital treatment.”
Regal Princess: A Royal Class Giant
The Regal Princess is one of seven Royal Class ships in the Princess Cruises fleet. It is set to return to Falmouth on August 18 during its British Isles, Ireland, Scotland, and France voyage.
This rescue comes just a day after another Princess Cruises ship, the Caribbean Princess, made a stop in Falmouth. The Caribbean Princess arrived from Portland on Sunday, kicking off a cruise to Iceland under glorious weather conditions.
