- A Royal Bahamas cruise passenger fell overboard shortly after 7 p.m. on Sunday
- The unnamed man fell about 120 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina
- On Monday morning, the Coast Guard said the search had been suspended
A 41-year-old cruise ship passenger is missing after falling overboard during a Royal Caribbean voyage to the Bahamas.
Officials said the Coast Guard responded Sunday around 7:17 p.m. to reports that a cruise passenger had fallen from the ship about 125 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina.
The company said the passenger, who has not been named, fell from the 'Vision of the Seas' ship, sparking a massive search and rescue mission overnight.
Despite mobilizing a large police force to search for the missing passenger, the Coast Guard said Monday morning it had called off the rescue mission, reports WCBD.
A 41-year-old cruise ship passenger is missing after falling overboard during a Royal Caribbean voyage on the 'Vision of the Seas' ship (pictured) to the Bahamas
The Coast Guard said efforts to find the passenger included deploying two C-130 Hercules aircraft, one from North Carolina and another from Clearwater, Florida.
During the rescue mission, the cruise was halted while a strobe light desperately searched the ocean for about six hours.
Despite the crew's best efforts, the man has not been seen since boarding the Royal Caribbean ship, which was called the “8 Night Bahamas & Perfect Day Holiday Cruise,” on Sunday.
Passengers said the cruise departed from Baltimore on Friday.
New Jersey film student Jake Utzinger, 21, narrated the film Post and courier that he was on holiday with his girlfriend's family when tragedy struck, with the captain announcing at around 7.45pm that a passenger had fallen overboard.
“I immediately felt sick when I knew one of our fellow travelers was lost at sea,” he said.
Utzinger said passengers ran to the side of the ship to lend an “extra pair of eyes” to the search.
Colin Schappi, another passenger, said he realized the dire situation was unfolding earlier in the evening around 7:15 p.m. when he heard crew members say, “Oscar! Oscar! Oscar! Starboard!'
The call is used by people at sea to warn others that someone has fallen overboard.
“We were wondering what was going on with that,” he told WCBD.
“We also noticed that all the staff were kind of pulling faces at each other,” he continues. “They reacted to that news, but at first no one knew what was going on.
“Then they made another announcement explaining what happened a few minutes later.”
Passenger Colin Schappi said he knew something was wrong when he heard crew members say, “Oscar! Oscar! Oscar! Starboard!' The call is used by people at sea to warn others that someone has fallen overboard
Passengers have shared the heartbreaking moment when the ship's captain announced that someone had fallen overboard, and they rushed to the side of the ship to lend an 'extra pair of eyes' to the search.
Following news that the search for the missing passenger has been suspended, Utzinger said it will “certainly be tough to continue this journey knowing that a family is missing their loved one.”
The cruise will continue sailing through the Caribbean for the remainder of the week, returning to Baltimore only on Saturday after several more stops, including the next one in Port Canaveral, Florida.
According to the company's website, the Vision of the Seas ship has a total capacity of 2,000 passengers and 700 crew members and is 300 meters long.