The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a 72-year-old British woman who is believed to have fallen off a TUI-operated cruise ship in the Atlantic.
The woman was last seen on board TUI’s Marella Voyager on Monday afternoon as it went from Malaga in Spain to the Caribbean.
In a statement to Global News, the U.S. Coast Guard said that at approximately 7:33 p.m. on Nov. 10, Coast Guard East District command center watchstanders received a report from Marella Voyager that a passenger was missing.
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“The vessel’s crew determined she was unaccounted for after routine cabin service personnel found her cabin and bed untouched and initiated the ship’s missing-person procedures. The Marella Voyager reported the vessel did not have enough fuel to return to the search area,” the U.S. Coast Guard added.
The last confirmed electronic record of the woman was a cabin door access event mid-day on Nov. 9.
“Due to the delay between her last known contact and the report made to rescue authorities, the vessel was approximately 500 nautical miles from the area where she was believed to have entered the water,” the Coast Guard said.
Search and rescue coordination required close collaboration among multiple international rescue coordination centres and maritime partners because the incident occurred in a remote area of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Coast Guard watchstanders coordinated extensively with search and rescue partners, including the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center Delgada and Joint Rescue Coordination Center United Kingdom, and issued urgent maritime broadcasts requesting assistance from vessels in the area after notified of the missing woman.
“After considering the extensive search area, the elapsed time between the presumed incident and notification, the lack of available search assets in the remote location, negative results from maritime broadcasts, the sea state, and the low likelihood of survival, the Coast Guard suspended active search efforts at 3:47 p.m. Nov 11 pending any new information,” the Coast Guard added.
Global News has reached out to travel agency TUI for further comment, but has not received a response.
The incident onboard the TUI-operated cruise ship comes nearly one month after a cruise passenger was rescued nearly 20 hours after going overboard from a Royal Caribbean ship into the Ionian Sea near the island of Zakynthos, Greece.
According to a news release by the Hellenic Coast Guard, the incident occurred on the morning of Oct. 9 on the cruise ship while it was sailing southwest of Zakynthos.
A “local emergency plan was immediately activated” and searches were launched to locate the 44-year-old Salvadorian woman, with participation of the Hellenic Coast Guard, a Hellenic Coast Guard Patrol Vessel (HCV) and passing ships, as well as a Super Puma helicopter of the Hellenic Air Force, according to the news release.
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A cargo ship that participated in the search located the woman on Oct. 10 and she was found conscious while floating inside a lifebuoy, according to the coast guard.
Footage shared by the Hellenic Coast Guard shows the moment the woman was found floating in the water.
The ship’s crew members spot the woman floating inside the lifebuoy in the dark sea before tossing her a rope.
The footage shows the woman pulling herself towards the cargo ship after she grabs the rope.
The woman was transported by ambulance to a hospital for medical monitoring and examinations, according to the coast guard.
A spokesperson for the Royal Caribbean Group told USA Today that the ship “immediately launched a search and rescue effort and are working with authorities” after the woman went overboard.
“Our Care Team is actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time. For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share,” the spokesperson added.
A preliminary investigation is being conducted by the Katakolo Port Authority.
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