The US Coast Guard stops search for a 30-year-old cruise passenger who Carnival says 'jumped' from a ship on its way back from the Bahamas

26.07.2023 - 09:48 / insider.com

The US Coast Guard has stopped its search for a 30-year-old male passenger who went overboard from the Carnival Elation cruise ship on Sunday.

The cruise ship was on a four-day Bahamas sailing and on its way back to Jacksonville, Florida, at the time of the incident, Matt Lupoli, a Carnival spokesperson, said. The man was reported missing by his travel companion late Sunday afternoon after he was not seen all day.

"Sadly, after an exhaustive on-board search and a review of security camera video it was determined that he jumped," Lupoli said. "Shoreside authorities were notified, and the crew was advised to continue to Jacksonville. The Carnival Care Team is providing support to the guest's family and our thoughts are with them and the guest."

The US Coast Guard was alerted at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, and the search was initiated soon after, Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric Rodriguez told Insider. On Tuesday, the Coast Guard announced it had suspended the search for the man.

In a statement to Insider on Tuesday, a Carnival spokesperson said: "Our thoughts and sincere condolences continue to be with the loved ones of our guest, as the extensive search for him, carried out by the United States Coast Guard, has been suspended. Our Care Team continues to provide support to the guest's family."

Six passengers have gone overboard on Carnival Cruise Line ships since the beginning of 2022, according to news reports compiled by Ross A. Klein, a professor who is the associate dean for graduate programs and research at Memorial University of Newfoundland, on his blog, CruiseJunkie.com.

The FBI launched an investigation into a man-overboard incident on board a Carnival cruise ship in May when Ronnie Lee Peale Jr., a 35-year-old passenger, fell into the water after leaning over the railing of his stateroom balcony.

Statistically, the odds of falling off a cruise ship are small. A total of 212 overboard incidents were reported on cruise ships from 2009 to 2019, according to a report commissioned by the industry-trade group Cruise Lines International Association. Out of those, 48 people — about 28% — were successfully rescued.

Under the 2010 Cruise Vessel Security and Safety law, cruise ships must have 42-inch guard rails and man-overboard imaging or detection systems. However, not all cruise ships have implemented recently developed automatic man-overboard-detection technology, which uses thermal cameras and radars to immediately alert crew members when a person goes overboard.

Carnival did not respond to questions regarding which man overboard-detection technologies are in place on board the Carnival Elation ship.

The time between someone going overboard and the cruise ship initiating a search-and-rescue mission can be the