The cruise ship MSC Meraviglia made an emergency stop at the port of Miami to medevac a passenger in need of urgent medical assistance. The ship was at MSC Cruises Private Island Ocean Cay in the Bahamas when the captain announced on the PA system that they needed to depart to Miami in order for the Coast Guard to perform a medical evacuation.

According to vessel tracking websites, the cruise ship made a brief stop near PortMiami on March 8, at around 3 am, where the Coast Guard medevacked the patient. A guest sailing aboard the MSC Meraviglia reported that a person was rescued in the Lagoon while the ship was in Ocean Cay.

"They had rescued him from the water, and he was struggling to breathe after receiving medical treatment. They mentioned a second cardiac attack. Luckily, he had a pulse, but the situation was pretty serious," the passenger said.

The Coast Guard's standard procedure is first to explore taking the patient directly off the ship at sea via helicopter. The second, which in this case was the only option for the individual to have a chance of surviving, is to take a smaller vessel alongside the ship.