Pilot Rescued After Falling Into Seas While Boarding Emerald Princess; Call Canceled

A harbor pilot climbing a rope ladder to board the 3,090-passenger Emerald Princess slipped and fell into the ocean off Nāwiliwili Harbor on Feb. 10, 2026, triggering a man overboard alert and prompting Princess Cruises to cancel the ship’s scheduled Kaua‘i call. Passenger video and multiple eyewitness accounts show the pilot falling from the ship’s port side roughly 10 to 20 feet from the hull before a pilot boat crew maneuvered alongside and retrieved him within minutes.

Passengers described repeated attempts by the pilot to board amid rough seas before the fall. Travel agent Walter Biscardi Jr., who filmed the event from his balcony stateroom and posted on Instagram under the handle whereswaltertravel, wrote, “Our pilot slipped on the ladder trying to board the ship in very rough weather conditions.” Biscardi also noted, “Fortunately, the crew on the boat were able to retrieve him safely.” Passenger footage circulated on social platforms appears to show the recovered pilot being pulled back onto the smaller vessel and not visibly injured after the rescue.

The incident unfolded while the eastern shores of Kaua‘i were under a National Weather Service high surf advisory. Marine advisories in effect at the time cited breaking waves of 7 to 10 feet and forecast surf heights between 8 and 12 feet, conditions that passenger reports and local commenters cited when questioning the difficulty of the transfer. A Kauai Now Facebook thread drew a local comparison; commenter Mitz Merrill recalled a past fatality involving a pilot boat operator named Lyman and warned that protections such as being tied on matter, writing that “I think there are protections in place like being tied on and he should’ve learned from Mr. Lyman, who did not survive this type of accident.”

After the rescue, Princess Cruises did not make the scheduled call at Nāwiliwili and the Emerald Princess continued to its next advertised stop in Maui before calling at Hilo and Honolulu, then Ensenada, Mexico, with a published return to Los Angeles on Feb. 20 for that 16-night Hawaii voyage which departed Los Angeles on Feb. 4. No official medical report, pilot name, or statement from Kaua‘i harbor pilot authorities was provided in the passenger reports and footage that circulated; available accounts say the pilot “appeared uninjured” but do not document any transport to shore or hospital evaluation.

Passengers praised the speed and training of the crews involved. One passenger told reporters, “I am amazed how well-trained and efficient the Emerald staff handled everything quickly and professionally. Well done, crew.” Another passenger commented, “Thanks to God for a quick recovery and a well-trained crew [the harbor pilot] is healthy and fine.” Local maritime officials and Princess Cruises had not issued public statements confirming details of the transfer or the pilot’s condition in the immediate aftermath of circulating passenger footage and social posts.