‘Scary situation off the coast of Kaua‘i’: Harbor pilot slips, falls into rough waters

What was supposed to be a routine harbor transfer earlier this week in waters off Kaua‘i became a “man overboard” emergency for a Princess Cruises ship as it prepared to enter port at Nāwiliwili Harbor on the southeast side of the island.

“Scary situation off the coast of Kaua‘i on the [Princess Cruises] Emerald Princess,” wrote user whereswaltertravel — who is travel agent Walter Biscardi of Orlando, Fla. — in a Feb. 10 Instagram post. “Our pilot slipped on the ladder trying to board the ship in very rough weather conditions.”

Cruise Hive reports that the harbor pilot was climbing a rope ladder from a pilot boat alongside the 3,090-passenger cruise ship Emerald Princess on Tuesday when he slipped and fell into the water on its port — or left — side.

Cruise Hive was established in 2008 and is among the earliest blogs covering the cruise industry.

The “man overboard” call was issued immediately after the pilot splashed down.

He reportedly made several attempts to board the cruise ship amid rough seas before losing his footing, falling about 10 to 20 feet from the ship’s hull instead of directly alongside it.

“Fortunately, the crew on the boat were able to retrieve him safely,” said Biscardi’s post.

He also posted a reel on Facebook about the incident.

Cruise Hive reports that pilot boat crew were able to quickly retrieve the overboard harbor pilot, pulling him back aboard the smaller vessel within minutes. He did not appear to be injured.

Emerald Princess’ port call on Kaua‘i was canceled after the emergency; it continued to cruise on toward Maui, where the ship was slated to call Wednesday (Feb. 11).

“Thanks to God for a quick recovery and a well-trained crew [the harbor pilot] is healthy and fine,” a passenger told Cruise Hive. “I am amazed how well-trained and efficient the Emerald staff handled everything quickly and professionally. Well done, crew.”

Emerald Princess departed Feb. 4 from Los Angeles on a 16-night Hawai‘i itinerary, with Kaua‘i scheduled to be the first port call after several days at sea.

“Our port call is waived off, but none of that matters when a life and death situation unfolds,” wrote Biscardi in his Instagram post. “We will come back to visit another day.”

Trish Walters of Portland, Ore., also a passenger aboard Emerald Princess, said in a reply to a Facebook post by her husband Doug, that the incident happened between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

It also happened just days after National Weather Service forecasters in Honolulu issued a high surf advisory for east-facing shores of Kaua‘i.

Strong trade winds were causing large breaking waves of 7 to 10 feet along those shorelines of the island, with even larger surf of 8 to 12 feet still expected.

“Very windy — and kinda scary,” wrote Trish Walters about the ocean conditions at the time of the incident. “We could see the breakwaters for the Kaua‘i port, but the ship needed lots of room to fit into the harbor; the wind was pushing us pretty good, so the captain and port folks decided it was too dangerous to try.”

Other Emerald Princess passengers shared that the cruise ship was listing “about 5 degrees” because of the rough surf.

Cruise Hive reports that rough seas can make pilot transfers particularly dangerous.

Boarding requires a small pilot boat to get close to a much larger moving vessel as a harbor pilot climbs a rope ladder attached to the ship’s side.

Large swells and shifting winds can cause sudden movement between the two vessels.

“[We’re] thankful for the safety of the pilot and for the work all pilots do to help make our cruises amazing,” Biscardi wrote.

News reporter Nathan Christophel contributed to this story.