Father of 20yo who went overboard cruise ship believes he’s still alive

The search for a missing 20-year-old man who went overboard a cruise ship last Thursday has been called off but his father believes he’s still alive.

The father of a man who went overboard a Royal Caribbean cruise last week believes his son is “still alive”.

Levion Parker, from Florida in the US, was holidaying with his family aboard Liberty of the Seas when tragedy struck.

The 20-year-old former high school football player and avid hunter had reportedly gone overboard at 4am last Thursday.

At the time, the 18-storey ship was returning to Fort Lauderdale in Florida after a four-day cruise to the Amber Cover cruise port in the Dominican Republic.

The US Coast Guard has since suspended its search for the missing young man, but his father Francel Parker, who was also abroad the cruise, believes his son is “still alive”.

“As soon as he went off the side, I prayed over him. I was confident the prayers I said over my son were heard. I stand on the word of God. I believe he is alive,” Mr Parker told local Florida paper the Daily Sun on Wednesday.

Levion Parker, 20, from Florida, has been identified as the young man who went overboard a Royal Caribbean cruise last Thursday. Picture: Facebook

He described his son as being a skilled diver who works on a commercial fishing boat.

Following the incident, a Royal Caribbean spokesperson told news.com.au the ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the US Coast Guard, who took over the search.

“Our Care Team is providing support and assistance to the guest’s family during this difficult time. For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share,” the spokesperson said on Monday.

Francel told the Daily Sun that he threw six life rings off the ship in hopes of saving his son before the vessel was able to come to a stop about 20 minutes later.

The ship, Liberty of the Seas, was returning to Fort Lauderdale in Florida following a four day cruise to the Amber Cover cruise port in the Dominican Republic.

When passengers woke up to the news, Amy Phelps Fouse, who was on-board the ship, said it was “definitely sombre”.

She told the New York Post many people came out of their cabins to stare at the sea, hoping to be able to aid in finding the person.

“Royal Caribbean has been excellent at communicating updates throughout the day,” she said of the incident on Thursday.

Levion Parker with his family.

“They have asked that people act with compassion in light of the tragic situation.”

Another passenger who took to Reddit to post about the heartbreaking incident said they became aware of the tragedy when the captain broke the news the following morning.

“They announced it over the PA system while we were at breakfast at the entire room went silent,” they wrote. “Then the rest of the cruise felt oddly casual.”

Levion’s father believes his son is still alive.

The young man was reportedly “drunk” on the night but details around this are unclear as the minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean ships on voyages from North America or the Caribbean is 21.

“We don’t drink,” Levion’s father Francel said. “I’d like to know how my son was served so much alcohol.”

Passengers who woke up to the news described it the mood as ‘sombre’. Picture: Bruno Vincent/Getty

According to the Daily Mail, he was thought to be staying with his family on deck 10, a flight below the whirlpools and hot tubs of deck 11 where he had spent time with his brother and another passenger the night of the incident before things took a horrifying turn.

Levion Parker was a former high school football player and avid hunter. Picture: Facebook

Levion was aboard the ship with this family. Picture: Facebook

Francel, who owns an airconditioning business, was invited, together with his family, aboard the ship as guests of Florida-based airconditioning wholesalers Tropic Supply to mark the company’s 50th anniversary.

Francel told the Daily Mail the family is consulting lawyers and is planning to issue a statement.

Travel lawyer Jim Walker said in a blog that Royal Caribbean along with the vast majority of US cruise companies have yet to install automatic man overboard systems as required by the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010.

“Such automatic MOB systems utilise state-of-the-art motion detection, video and infra-red technology and radar to instantly detect when someone goes over the rails of a cruise ship,” he wrote.

“The system can then track the person’s movements in the water even at night-time,” adding the infra-red technology would be crucial in assisting the ship in locating and rescuing the person in the water.

“Without such a system, the chances of locating an overboard person in the water at night it like finding a needle in a haystack.”

According to the Washington Post, about 386 people were reported to have gone overboard on the major cruise lines between 2000 to 2020.