I heard about it too. it seems their CC on file was rejected.

I've never heard of passengers being asked to disembark into a tug while the ship was moving, so that's new. I'd expect the ship would at least have to slow down a lot. But people can have emergencies that require them to disembark at sea, either health or personal emergencies.

Larry, cc on file rejected? Seriously!

First off, it was probably not a tug boat but a small coast guard vessel or a pilot boat. They are often similar size or smaller than a typical tug and can easily be mistaken as a tug.

Since the ship just left the harbor (1 hour or less), the crusie ship won't be at "speed". I have often seen pilot boats go along side a cruise ship at speed, dropping off the pilot or picking up the pilot.

Without seeing first hand, I would speculate it is the pilot, or as Doug said, it could be an emergency, or could be a stowaway, hence the coast guard vessel.

When this "transfer" was taking place, was it just outside the Hudson or out at the "ocean"?

Didn't eat the vegetable? Love it!

Well E to put a Joe Biden spin on this tale I would have to say "malarkey!" Should have waited for April 1st for this one.

Larry, I guess I am more charitable. It could simply be "what you see is not what you think you saw", a case of mistaken identity.

For me E I have to go with what the OP actually said. This image of two middle age people, one obviously frightened scaling down a rope ladder of all things to practically sea level from a moving ship to another and having their luggage "tossed" I can't imagine any ship putting themselves in this position of potential liability were an accident to happen under these circumstances. I recall how we were not able to even tender into Raratonga b/c the seas were to choppy to allow access to the tender boat from an anchored ship so to say they exited from a moving ship which did not even slow down via rope ladders! Sorry, I just don't buy it.
Cheers, Larry

Okay Larry, you got a point. Through the year, I have missed many ports due to unfavorable sea / weather condition that they refuse to tender, or simply sailing through the channel. Last year, it was Arhaus, the year before was Cayman, and the one before that was Sitka. (We did managed to get ashore at Sitka before they stopped tednering) Come to think of it, it was once a year for the last 3 years!

You are correct that I can't see passenegers going down rope ladders. It would be a law suit waiting to happen. For emergencies, if it is only an hour sailiung time, it is raechable by helicopter for emergency evacuation.

Modern cruise ships have floating docks/devices that extend out for safety. They don't use rope ladders. Even the pilots / park rnagers when they get on board or disembark, they use the movable stairs (with handrail) and not rope ladders.
Of coruse, it could be a container ship and they are smuggling people into the US!

So do you have any trips planned? We are planning a trip to India in the fall for a wedding and a stop in Bangkok for a week on the way back.

My first reaction was "pilot boat". We greatly enjoyed watching it pull up to the ship and seeing the pilot get off when we cruised to New Brunswick a couple of years ago. There aren't usually two of them, though.

Larry, there are a few things on the horizon so far: LA in May, Canadian Rockies in July, Alsaka in August and potentially New Zealnd/Australia for November.

Next year, I wanted to make my way to India to see my neice. She moved from Cambodia to India recently and I wanted to take advantage of the cheap hospitality. Her DH works for a boutique luxury international hotel group.

No cruise for you?

Well it seems you have a very nice schedule planned. We were planning a cruise but... got a call from India and our last unmarried niece is jumping the broom in Oct. so this is what our plan changed to. We fly to DEL. with stops in Narita and then an overnnight stop in Bangkok, a short sleep and them an early morning flight to DEL. We have around two weeks there and then go to Bangkok for 1 week before returning home. Th e nice thing inre to the flights is that we leave DEL 12 noon to BKK which is a reasonable time. In the past we have flown hone from DEL and those flights leave like 0200 or so. Leaving at 1200 will be easy. Ever been to BKK?

Never been to BKK, not even passing thorugh. Thailand is not high on my list. It's for the younger people.

LA trip is for a convention but we are going to add a week after the meetings. We try to do Alaska and the Rockies once every couple year. Last trip to Alaska was 2010 so it's overdue. NZ/AU is still up in the air, DH may want to do SA and Anartica instead.

We like red eyes for trans-ocean. With Eye covers & MP3s, we're good to go, though we kept everyone else around us wide awake with our snoring ... lol. Since we won't see anyone of them ever again, we don't care about any embarassing moments.

I've seen passengers embark and disembark via rope ladder, and I've seen them embark from what was definitely a tug.

So tell us JP which cruise line allows its passengers to exit via rope ladders to a tug?

Larry, I did get off a "cruise ship" via ladder on to a zodiac in the Galapagos. That's the only way to get on or off the ship. I have also seen people (could be passengers) dsiembark to a tug.

JP only stated that "passengers embark and disembark via rope ladder, and I've seen them embark from what was definitely a tug". JP did not specify it is a cruise ship.

That maybe the only way off the boat if you are on a container ship cruise.

Perhaps so. I assumed that as this topic was inre cruise ships. It wasn't a rope ladder was it and how far down did U have to go?

Hello OP here. I am reading through the answers and I see that some are skeptical about my story. well, I did not fabricate, I really saw it and it has been bugging me ever since...I guess I may never know...

NJriverchick, which cruise ship was it that you witnessed the incindent and how far off shore? Does the "boat" has clear tug markings or was it a coast guard vessel?

Eschew~ We were on the Norwegian Dawn sailing out of New York to Bermuda...it was June 2010. We were not exactly "off shore"...I think it was around the time we were going under the Verrazzano Bridge. I don't remember seeing or noticing markings on the smaller boat.

I think the pilot gets off just past the Verrazzano. Maybe someone came along with the pilot for some reason, and I can imagine getting off the ship that way being hair-raising for someone who wasn't used to it. I will say, if you don't know it's the pilot, it's not that obvious.

Oh my gosh! That must be it! It was the pilot ~ I knew nothing about this! This is what I found when I googled it:


Often when a ship is coming into port you see a small boat pull up along side. While the cruise ship is still moving, an intrepid individual climbs up a ladder and through a door in the side of the ship. Much the same drama takes place in reverse when a cruise ship is leaving a port. The individual making the leap between the cruise ship and the small boat is the pilot.
Pilots are trained mariners, often former ship captains, who are licensed by the various ports. Their primary role is to advise the ship’s officers regarding conditions in the port - - tides, the location of sand bars, changes in the ship channel etc.

Thank you persimmon, mystery solved

I believe that is exactly what Eschew suggested in his first post. It is fun to watch.

I am not the brightest bulb in the box....so I totally didnt get the pilot reference when Eschew suggested it. "Pilot" makes me think of planes...I didnt understand. It was persimmon's post that finally made the bulb light up!

Mystery solved! Can't imagine a poor stowaway get tossed off the boat that way.