Coast Guard crews are searching for an Australian cruise ship passenger off the coast of Hawaii following a report of a person overboard earlier this week, officials said.
The cruise ship Quantum of the Seas reported a person overboard at 11:03 p.m. Tuesday evening local time to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release.
“The crew of the cruise ship remained on scene to search for approximately two hours, deploying six life rings,” the release said.
On Wednesday, an air search with the Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point C-130 Hercules aircrew launched at 7 a.m. and arrived on scene at 9 a.m. local time, searching about 500 miles south of Kailua Kona, Big Island.
After six hours the crew returned to the air station for fuel replenishment and officials said the search would resume at first light Thursday.
A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean confirmed that a passenger went overboard.
“The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities,” the spokesperson said.
The sprawling cruise ship has 16 decks, fits 4,905 guests and 1,500 crew members, according to its website.
Quantum of the Seas departed Brisbane, Australia, on April 12 and is scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on Friday.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
