A woman who called the
coastguard after getting stuck on a cruise ship balcony has been praised by the
service for getting in touch.

At 9.20pm on Thursday
evening the coastguard received a 999 call from a woman who’d accidentally been
locked out of her room when she went onto the balcony.

Reports suggest that
she’d been travelling on an overnight trip to Rouen onboard a Fred Olsen cruise
liner when she became locked out.

A coastguard
spokesperson said: “Never be afraid to call the coastguard, we’d always rather
be called than not be called. When something goes wrong at sea, no matter how
small, it always has the potential to become something much worse.”

Speaking about last
night’s incident they said: “As there was no one nearby who could help, rather
than panicking she made the right decision and the called the coastguard.”

Following the phone
call, the coastguard was able to contact the cruise ship and tell them what had
happened. Shortly after a member of crew was sent to unlock the balcony door.

Luckily in this
instance the ship was still in the Solent and the woman was able to be speedily returned
to safety.

Coastguard Matt West
said: “The coastguard encourages anyone in trouble at sea to call 999 and while
this situation was quickly resolved, it may have become more serious if the
lady had been unable to raise the alarm.

“I would like to thank
her for doing the right think by calling for help and we hope that she enjoys
the rest of her holiday.”