Cruise Ship Passenger Jumps Overboard, Has Not Been Found

KEY POINTS

A 31-year-old passenger aboard the Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship jumped overboard Friday.
A search and rescue operation was launched, but the guest has yet to be found
The Norwegian Breakaway was scheduled to take another seven-day voyage Monday

A passenger aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship sailing near Mexico late last week jumped overboard and has yet to be found.

The 31-year-old guest aboard the Norwegian Breakaway, who was not named, jumped off the cruise ship as it passed near Costa Maya, Mexico, Friday, WDSU reported, citing a statement provided by NCL.

“The authorities were immediately notified, and a search and rescue operation (SAR) ensued,” a spokesperson for the company said in the statement.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the individual's loved ones during this difficult time," the spokesperson added.

The Norwegian Breakaway, which has a capacity of nearly 4,000 guests, was scheduled to depart its homeport of New Orleans on Monday for another seven-day voyage.

A similar incident happened on Feb. 16 when a passenger aboard the Carnival Valor cruise ship jumped overboard while the vessel passed through the Gulf of Mexico.

The 32-year-old woman, who was not publicly identified, leaped from her balcony and landed in the waters located approximately 150 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

Officials of the Carnival Valor launched SAR procedures and alerted the Coast Guard, but the maritime agency halted its operations 14 hours afterward.

"The decision to suspend a search and rescue case is never one we come to lightly. We offer our deepest sympathies to the family during this difficult time," Chief Warrant Officer Tricia Eldredge, command duty officer at Sector New Orleans, said in a statement a day after the incident.

The Coast Guard launched another SAR operation involving the Carnival Valor after a person reportedly went overboard on Feb. 26.

However, the agency later confirmed that the man had not jumped overboard but fell after experiencing heart attack-like symptoms.

The man was loaded into a Coast Guard vessel and transferred to awaiting emergency medical services at the New Orleans Cruise terminal.

From 2001 to 2019, 58 passengers and 14 crew died after falling from a ship, while 55 passengers and five crew members died after jumping overboard in suspected suicides, according to the International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health.