The passenger who boarded the world’s largest cruise ship this week has been identified as a 19-year-old college student from Washington state – who was on vacation with friends at the time, his family announced.
Sigmund Ropich, known to his loved ones as “boiboi,” was aboard Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas when he fell into the waters off the coast of Cuba on Tuesday, according to his sister Savannah.
“He was a son, a brother, a cousin, an uncle, a nephew, a friend, a homie, a classmate, a colleague, a neighbor!!!” the distraught siblings wrote on Facebook.
“I just want my brother home.”
Savannah said Sigmund was enjoying a trip with friends when he fell from the 230,000-ton ship around 9 p.m. on the second day of a seven-day cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida.
He was known as a “reserved” child who was “always cool, calm, and composed,” she said, making the tragedy even harder for his family to imagine.
There has been no sign of him in the three days since he disappeared beneath the dark waves, and officials are reported to have given up hope.
Sigmund Ropich was a passenger who went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, his family said. Savannah Ropich/Facebook
“We were told by Cuban officials that they had finished searching the ocean. They continue only on the coast and on land. I have a strong feeling they will end this search,” Savannah told Insider.
“We really hope that it opens [the] find it again in the ocean … We need them to open it up again.”
The Ropich family has been largely secretive about Sigmund’s disappearance, the siblings said.
Royal Caribbean declined to say how long the ship’s crew had been searching for the teenager, although industry blogs reported that rescuers spent about three hours scouring the waves using searchlights, small boats and lookouts after the ship turned around and retraced its course.
Sigmund was on vacation with friends when he fell into the waters off Cuba Tuesday.Savannah Ropich/Facebook
“The search crew needs to keep looking for our Boiboi!!!!” Savannah wrote. “We need answers, we need updates!!”
“We are very far from him.. Please tell them so we can bring him home!! Please sir!!!!!! Please he hasn’t lived yet, sir.”
Royal Caribbean previously said it was cooperating with the US Coast Guard, but the military confirmed to The Post that responsibility for search and rescue falls under Cuban jurisdiction.
Cuban rescue officials reportedly told Sigmund’s family that they had stopped searching in deep sea waters.Savannah Ropich/Facebook
Royal Caribbean declined to say how long the ship’s crew had been searching for the teenager, although industry blogs reported that rescuers spent about three hours scouring the waves using searchlights, small boats and lookouts after the ship turned around and retraced its course. SOPA /LightRocket image via Getty Images
The USCG will conduct an investigation into the incident when the large vessel returns to US waters, a spokesman said.
The Wonder of the Seas, which is 1,188 feet long and has 18 decks, can accommodate nearly 7,000 passengers and 2,300 crew members. The Royal Caribbean Ocean Icon is set to break Wonder’s record when it begins service next year.
Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
