A search has been launched for a cruise ship passenger believed to have gone overboard en route to the Bahamas.
The Norwegian Epic reported that a person entered the water around 3:00 PM ET as the ship headed north from Ocho Rios, Jamaica, while headed toward Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. Cruise hive reported.
The ship departed Port Canaveral, Florida on Saturday and is currently on a seven-night voyage to the Western Caribbean.
Passengers on board have appeared to confirm the unfolding situation, filming the water and sharing what little information they have.
In one videoA passenger could be heard saying that the missing person is a child.
Another passenger that shared a video from the ship circling while conducting a search said, “A man jumped off the boat.”
Another cruise ship that happened to be nearby steamed to the location to try to assist in the rescue.
The identity of the person who went overboard has not been released, although initial reports indicate it was a guest and not a crew member.
Search and rescue operations are said to have started immediately, with crew members throwing a flare into the water to mark the ship’s position when the ‘man overboard’ was reported.
In the photo: the Norwegian Epic cruise ship, the ship where a passenger reportedly went overboard on Thursday
Passengers were seen looking out into the open ocean as the search for the missing guest continued
The boat was circling the area where flares were being fired to mark the ship’s position when a man was first reported overboard.
DailyMail.com contacted Norwegian to confirm these details and obtain an update.
Cruise Hive reported that onboard announcements told passengers that the person who went overboard was wearing a blue shirt at the time of their fall.
The outlet added that Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam was the ship racing toward the Norwegian ship in one of the videos.
The Zuiderdam’s home port is Port Everglades and is in the middle of a seven-night Caribbean itinerary, with Thursday being a day at sea.
Sunset in the Bahamas was at 5:18 p.m. on Thursday, leaving rescuers with just a few hours of sunlight to save the victim.
In the first video, posted on X at 3:35 p.m., a woman behind the camera showed the ship circling a red patch of water believed to be the deployed flare.
“They’ve put up a flare, they’re circulating. We made a full circle looking for the man who jumped off the boat. He jumped, he fell and bounced off one of these (lifeboats) and fell into the water,” she said.
In the other video, posted to TikTok around 5 p.m., the woman filming zoomed in to show what was believed to be the Zuiderdam rushing toward the Norwegian ship.