The Maritime Rescue service has airlifted a cruise passenger to Son Espases hospital in Palma with urgent health problems off a cruise ship which was sailing to the east of Minorca, the second similar intervention in six ours today.
According to the sea rescue agency, at around 9.20 a.m. those in charge of the cruise ship Tosca Toscana requested the evacuation of a passenger who was having breathing difficulties.
The cruise ship, which had departed from Barcelona and was heading for Cagliari, in Sardinia, was 65 miles west of Minorca and changed course to approach the Balearics again and facilitate the rendezvous with a Hemiler 220 helicopter, which picked up the patient and flew him to Palma.
The patient is a 68-year-old French citizen, according to the same sources.
Early this morning, the same helicopter rescued and evacuated to Son Espases an 81-year-old German passenger who suffered a stroke on board the Aida Stela cruise ship on its crossing from Palma to Mahón, 41 miles from the Balearic capital.
In the UK, a major search operation has ended after a crew member was reported to have gone overboard from a cruise ship off the coast of Kent.
The crew member was on board the German AIDAperla cruise ship when he went overboard in the early morning of 22 October.
HM Coastguard said the search near Ramsgate was ended at about 6pm on Sunday after it had been alerted earlier that day.
A helicopter, a Coastguard aircraft and lifeboats were involved in the operation.
The ship was reportedly travelling from Hamburg in Germany to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.