AIDAmar accidents and incidents

18 December 2025Crew / Passenger Deaths

On December 18, 2025, an 85-year-old female passenger died during a shore excursion from Vigo, Spain.

The German woman was swept into the sea by powerful waves near Concheira Beach, close to Baiona (Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain).

AIDAmar made a scheduled call at Vigo earlier in the day before the group of tourists traveled by bus to the coastal town.

Reportedly, the elderly woman separated briefly from her excursion party of about 50 and moved onto rocks to take photos. At ~2:30 PM (~13:30 UTC), a large wave struck and carried her into the water. A nearby resident witnessed the event and immediately alerted emergency services. 

Spanish Maritime Rescue units, the Galician Coast Guard, Civil Guard vessels, local police, underwater search teams and a rescue helicopter were mobilized swiftly in response. Despite the rapid deployment of sea and air assets, the woman’s body was later discovered on the shoreline nearby. Medical teams on scene were unable to resuscitate her.

The rest of the excursion party was reportedly unaware of her disappearance until they had returned to the bus, preparing to re-embark on the ship in Vigo.

Spanish meteorological authorities had issued an orange weather warning for the Galician coast on the day of the accident, with strong south-southwest winds reaching 50-75 kmph (31-47 mph) and wave heights reported at 6-7 m (20-23 ft) in some sectors.

The incident occurred at the end of the 43-day Transatlantic and Caribbean cruise (itinerary "Grose Winterpause Karibik", roundtrip from Hamburg, November 9th-December 22nd) visiting destinations in England (Isle of Portland), Portugal (Lisbon, Funchal on Madeira), Bermuda (Hamilton), the Netherlands Antilles (Philipsburg St Maarten, Willemstad Curacao, Oranjestad Aruba, Kralendijk Bonaire), Dominicana (Santo Domingo), Grenada (St George's), St Lucia (Castries), Dominica (Roseau), St Kitts (Port Zante-Basseterre), Spain's Canary Islands (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), Vigo (Dec 18th, port stay 8 AM-5 PM), and France (Cherbourg/Dec 20th).