BOSTON — The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a man who went overboard off a cruise ship right off the coast of Cape Cod.
Norwegian Cruises says one of their crew members went into the water overnight Saturday just after midnight.
“An incident happened last night, man overboard,” said Nancy Manning, a passenger who was on the ship at the time of this incident.
Manning was on the Norwegian Breakaway when she heard that startling message over the loudspeaker Sunday morning.
Norwegian Cruise officials say one of their crew members went overboard off the coast of Cape Cod late Saturday night as the ship was heading to Boston from Bermuda.
“I just hope everyone’s really nice to the staff because they’re obviously going to be dealing with a lot,” said Sam Albert, who was boarding the ship Sunday.
The U.S. Coast Guard says a security camera on the Breakaway caught the crew member falling from the ship as they were about 12 miles east of Wellfleet.
The Coast Guard deployed their rescue boat, life rings and a helicopter to assist in a search and rescue effort well into Sunday until suspending its search around 12:30PM.
“Some people were getting mad they didn’t get to get home, they had flights to catch, and I just kept saying there’s a life loss, we have to deal, we have to deal, someone’s not here anymore, you know, and they had to do an investigation on the ship,” said Manning.
Manning says because of this investigation, they were delayed several hours to get off the ship in Boston.
After breakfast, she says all food was shut down and they only had access to water.
“It was scary, it was like being held captive, you know what I mean, and not being able to get off the boat,” said Manning. “We went out of Boston so we could drive and be there 20 min home and then we were stuck on the boat for like 6 hours.”
And that delay impacted the next cruise with long lines of passengers waiting several extra hours to take off on their vacation.
“It’s a long travel day for us and it hasn’t ended and we’re not even sure they’re leaving tonight,” said Ellen Withington, who was waiting to board the ship Sunday.
“There’s a huge mixed reaction from passengers as well some people are upset that the cruise is delayed, other people are more understanding that obviously there’s a huge tragedy that occurred,” said Albert. “So, I’m on vacation, I’m not stressing about delays, but my thoughts are with the family of the person that did pass away.”
A Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson released a statement, saying in part: “The safety, security, and well-being of our crew is our highest priority. Our thoughts are with the crewmember’s family during this difficult time.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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