Lifeboat fatality aboard Holland American Cruise ship Volendam

John Konrad -

A lifeboat remains dangling off the side of a cruise ship, moored at Christchurch’s Port Lyttelton, after a cable broke sending two crew members into the water.

Divers searched the water for the 29-year-old man who fell overboard the Volendam, the Holland-American line cruise ship, and eventually recovered the man’s body. The other crew member managed to use a bucket to stay afloat and was quickly rescued.

Both men were wearing heavy clothing, overalls and boots but no lifejackets, he said. “It appears that one of the cables let go at one end and the lifeboat is dangling there by one cable at the moment,” said St John spokesman Ian Henderson. The incident occurred during a lifeboat drill at about 2.30pm on Saturday. No additional information about the cause of the lifeboat failure is available at this time.

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