How common are man over boards?
A. By design, man over boards are a rare occurrence. To put it into perspective, we maintain about 10,000 Sailors at sea in the central area of command since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Department of Defense has declared two members lost at sea in that area during that timeframe. Crews train on varying safety aspects of living onboard a ship and frequently rehearse preventative and recovery drills. However, there are rare occasions when a member falls overboard and is not recovered. Every effort is taken by every Navy asset in the area to find the missing Sailor.
