An eight-year old boy who reportedly fell in to a pool on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship was airlifted from the ship Thursday night, the New York Police Department said.
The Anthem of the Sea’s ship doctor performed CPR on the unconscious child, according to the NYPD, and the child was in critical condition when the NYPD aviation unit brought him to Staten Island University Hospital.
Police say they received a call at approximately 8 p.m. for a drowning victim on the ship.
The ship was traveling from Bayonne, New Jersey to the Caribbean. It was five to 10 miles offshore from Breezy Point, Queens when the child was found, CNN affiliate WCBS reported.
The boy was traveling with a large group of family and they disembarked after the ship returned to the Cape Liberty Cruise Port late Thursday night, Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez told CNN. They are from Maryland, she added.
This is the third time the Anthem of the Seas has had to return to port this year.
In February, the ship sailed into an Atlantic storm, forcing passengers to hunker down in their rooms for about 12 hours as the ship tossed and turned in rough seas and up to 125-mph winds off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
Severe weather in March also forced a return to port.