Ting Chen
Cruise Ship Passenger Dies On Dive Excursion
Norwegian Dawn - July 31, 2008
Chen, married in New York on July 26th, disembarked the cruise ship to take a dive excursion at Snorkel Park on Dockyard Beach in Bermuda with her husband Ron.
The Norwegian Cruise Lines, Norwegian Dawn had arrived at the port of call on Wednesday July 30th to let visitors explorer the island of Bermuda.
Ting Chen
Event Date: July 31, 2008
Bruise: Death
Bruise Location: Bermuda
Age: 28
Home Town: New York
Cruise Ship: Norwegian Dawn
Line: Norwegian Cruise Lines
Details:
Ting Chen, a teacher from Flushing, New York was on her honeymoon aboard a cruise ship on July 31, 2008. The wedding was the last time friends saw her alive.
While on the dive, Ting got into trouble around 1630 hours. Paramedics tried to resuscitate her at the scene before she was rushed to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital by ambulance. She was pronounced dead shortly after 1730 hours.
Though Chen was a first-time snorkeller, could not swim requiring a life jacket, it is unclear how she drown in waist deep water, where she could have stood up to save herself.
Reports says Chen was playing in the water with her husband. When she was next seen, she was floating face-down in the shallow water.
According to Snorkel Park general manager Ray Lambert, "We try our best to maintain a safe, clean operation. There are no rip currents, no major tides or anything that's considered a hazard. It's a very popular spot for kids. It was just a tragic accident."
One report has local officials blaming the bride for her death, by saying though she could not swim, she dove back into the water without her life jacket, after having been using the life jacket prior to the incident.
Snorkel Park, Bermuda
It is hard to see that relevance, given how shallow the water was, with reports saying the water is only waist deep in the beach area she was swimming in.
The photograph to the left shows how shallow the water is a great distance from the beach, as does the photograph at the top of the page.
Police have yet to release the cause of death for Mrs. Chen, who taught at an all girls' school in New York City and whose husband is a youth pastor at Long Island Abundant Life Church in Hicksville, New York, where they were married.
Reports say her husband Ron did not continue on the cruise, instead staying at Bermuda to attend to his wife's final details.
Mrs. Chen moved to the US from China about ten years ago and lived with her husband on the Lower East Side of New York City.
A facebook account, once full of photographs from the wedding is now a memorial to her life.
