Cruise ship pianist rescued after treading water 20 miles from California coast for 9 hours

Fishermen from Newport Beach, California, pulled a cruise ship musician from the ocean after the man had been treading water for about 9 hours.

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Sean Norton and Grant Garrett were fishing for marlin on Nov. 6 near Catalina Island when they saw the 37-year-old man in the water, about 20 miles from the coast of California.

“I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a human being. Stop the boat; let’s get all of our lines in,” Garrett told KCBS.

“Grant and I each got an arm and lifted him up,” Norton said. “He was in total shock.”

The man came to and told them that he was a pianist on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas.

“The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,’” Norton said.

Once they got him out of the water, they called in an emergency maritime call, and lifeguards from Newport Beach came out to their boat.

The musician has not been identified but was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive. The New York Times said he was transported in stable condition.

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating how he fell from the ship.

Norton credited the man’s survival to the weather.

“You have this crazy super El Niño year. This guy was in the water for probably 10 hours, but the water’s 76 degrees,” Norton said. “A different year, no way he makes it.”

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson released a statement to KCBS, which read, “We are providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time. To respect the privacy of our employee, we have no additional details to share.”

The Ovation of the Seas is a 14-deck ship that can carry more than 4,000 passengers and 1,500 crewmembers, the Times reported.