A crew member has reached out to Crew Center to report a deeply troubling incident that allegedly happened onboard Margaritaville at Sea Islander on December 23, leaving two crew members dead and three injured. The crew member said the incident took place in the blackwater tank while the crew was carrying out their assigned duties.

The crew member, asking to remain anonymous, told Crew Center: “A big accident occurred in the blackwater tanks where 2 crew died and 3 injured… the 3 injured were sent home without giving them compensation, they only paid them their contract.” The same source alleged the incident followed an order to open the tank.

In follow-up, Crew Center asked for additional details, including names, nationalities, and whether there was any announcement onboard. The crew member said one of the deceased was a Romanian national named Ciprian, and the other was from Indonesian. The three injured crew members are from India, the Philippines, and Indonesia. All of the crew involved were said to be from the engine department, including a third engineer, and the rest motormen.

The same source said a ceremony was held onboard, but claimed it was handled verbally and that crew were not allowed to take photos. A second crew member also confirmed the incident, saying the ship went into what they described as a “media blackout” around the incident.

Margaritaville at Sea Islander operates with roughly 900 crew members, and crew who contacted us say word of the incident spread mostly through conversations between coworkers. Several described an atmosphere where people felt discouraged from speaking openly, saying most were afraid of retaliation or losing their jobs.

For many most painful part is realizing how much risk exists behind the scenes of a cruise vacation. In technical areas below deck tasks can become dangerous fast if procedures are missed or pressure is applied to move forward.

In this case, the crew members who contacted Crew Center say their biggest concern is the safety protocols leading up to the incident, what approvals were given, what checks were done, and whether the proper precautions were taken. They believe these questions matter not only for accountability, but to prevent another tragedy.

They also say there are still unanswered questions about what support was provided afterward, including medical care, repatriation, and compensation, but they stress that the central issue is whether this loss of life could have been prevented through stricter safety controls and enforcement.

Not the first crew tragedy connected to Margaritaville at Sea

This is not the first crew tragedy linked to Margaritaville at Sea. In 2024, a crew member from the AB Deck department died in a lifeboat-related accident on the Islander during a drill while the ship was docked in Cozumel, Mexico an incident that was publicly reported at the time.