Boston security officer jumps from cruise ship to save man over board
Boston MA Sept 10 2018Â The 21-year-old man who fell off a cruise ship near Peddocks Island Saturday night has been identified as Aaron Dibella of Peabody.
Dibella died after he fell from the vessel.
The company running the cruise ship said he was involved in horseplay before falling off the vessel.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s office said around 8:40 p.m., the cruise ship Providence II, broadcasted a man overboard in the area around the island, located in Hull.
Authorities said a security officer on the ship jumped into the water to help Dibella but was unable to locate him. The security officer searched unsuccessfully and was able to get out himself of the water.
The Coast Guard, Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Environmental Police responded to the scene.
A scan sonar by Environmental Police located the victim around 11 p.m. State Police divers entered the water around 12:45 a.m. Sunday and located the victim in the Fore River Channel in Weymouth.
Dibella was taken to the Coast Guard station at Point Allerton in Hull.
The district attorney’s office continues to investigate the death. The medical examiner’s office will determine cause and manner of death.
A cousin told WCVB that Dibella was in the Army.
Bay State Cruises, the company operating the vessel, said Dibella fell into the water after “engaging in horseplay aboard the vessel.”
“The tragic and overwhelming sadness that has swept through all of us; our crew, our staff – everyone associated with our company – has left us without adequate words to express just how sorry we are for the family and friends of the gentleman that went overboard”, said Bay State Cruise Company’s owner, Michael Glasfeld. “We had him located and illuminated with the ship’s spot light, the several life rings were within just a few feet of him, and a crew member was additionally in the water also within five feet of him to assist.”
The statement said minutes before he fell, Dibella was engaged in a “type of vertical push up from the bulwark of the vessel.” A crew member told him to climb down.
“Although the passenger initially appropriately responded to the warning of the crew member and climbed back down onto the deck, when the crew member turned to go back into the interior of the vessel, the passenger started in on the even more dramatic form of dangerous play,” the company said.
Glasfeld said the company aches for Dibella’s family.
“To our passengers we say, we so, so sincerely regret that your night on the water should be marked by such tragedy,” Glasfeld said. ” To our crew, we say, bless you for your efforts and commitment to your training, and, to the family of the lost passenger, there are no words – none – to convey our deepest and most sincere sympathies. We are heartbroken.”
