Another South African woman brutally attacked at sea

The Citizen

5 days ago

Just weeks after the emotional outpouring of grief following the murder of South African yacht stewardess Paige Bell, another South African woman has been brutally attacked at sea – this time aboard a cruise ship in the Bahamas, while her attacker, also South African, hurled himself overboard.
The Witness reports that the 28-year-old woman, working as a crew member aboard the Icon of the Seas, was stabbed multiple times, allegedly by a 35-year-old male colleague, while the ship sailed through Bahamian waters last week.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force confirmed the attack took place at around 19:30 last Thursday.
The suspect allegedly stabbed the woman several times in the upper body during what police described as a 'personal dispute' before attempting to flee the scene by jumping overboard.
The man was later found unresponsive and declared dead by onboard medical personnel.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, is reportedly in stable condition.
Royal Caribbean said in a statement that the crew initiated a search and rescue operation immediately after a man-overboard alert, signalled onboard as 'Oscar Oscar Oscar', was issued.
The ship slowed and turned back to recover the man, but he could not be saved.
The company said in a statement: 'Our crew immediately initiated a search and rescue operation, but unfortunately, the crew member [who went overboard] passed away.'
The Icon of the Seas was returning to Miami following stops in St. Maarten, the US Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. The ship had departed from Miami on July 19.
The incident comes as South Africa continues to mourn the death of Paige Bell, a former Hillcrest High School pupil who was killed days before her 21st birthday.
Her body was discovered in the engine room of a superyacht docked in the Bahamas on July 3.
A 39-year-old Mexican man, also a crew member, was arrested in connection with her death.
Sandra Jordaan of The Yacht Purser programme said the cruise ship incident underscored the maritime industry's persistent failure to protect workers.
Long hours, isolation, high stress and a lack of accountability contribute to unsafe environments at sea.
She added that calls for mandatory criminal background checks for crew had yet to be implemented across the industry.
'These are not isolated incidents,' said Jordaan.
'Until proper safety protocols are implemented, we will continue to see crew members harmed, or worse, while working in environments that too often treat them as disposable.'
Bell's death sparked renewed calls for tighter regulation in the yachting sector, especially regarding background checks for crew.
Many young South Africans join the maritime sector in pursuit of travel and opportunity, often entering the loosely regulated yachting industry.
Jessie Frost, a former yachtie and founder of the recruitment platform Crewfolio, has been campaigning for global reform.
She launched a petition on Change.org calling for mandatory and renewable criminal background checks for all seafarers.
She said that although international maritime frameworks such as the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) and the International Labour Organisation's Maritime Labour Convention provide guidance on training and safety, they do not require background checks.
Crew continue to be placed in high-risk environments without even the most basic criminal background screening.
Frost is proposing a renewable two-year certificate from a global screening provider, like existing requirements such as the ENG1 medical or STCW certification.
'There are repeat offenders in our industry who are known and named, yet they continue to find work because there's always someone unaware of their past who unknowingly gives them another opportunity,' she said.
Themes of bullying, harassment, sexual and physical violence, theft and even murder surface year after year, often quietly accepted, normalised or brushed aside.
Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said they could not comment, as the matter remained under investigation by Bahamian authorities.
The Icon of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, made its maiden voyage in January 2024.
The 360m-long vessel boasts seven pools, the 'world's largest waterpark at sea', six waterslides and nine whirlpools, and can carry up to 5 610 passengers and 2 350 crew members across 19 floors.
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