A search has been launched for a cruise ship passenger who is believed to have gone overboard while en route to the Bahamas.
The Norwegian Epic reported an individual had entered the water around 3pm ET as the ship was sailing northbound from Ocho Rios, Jamaica, as it cruised 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 Western Caribbean voyage.
One passenger onboard the ship told DailyMail.com the captain has advised guests that the individual has not been found. The boat is now being diverted to Nassau, she said.
Passengers on board have appeared to confirm the unfolding situation, filming the water and sharing the little information they have.
In one video, a passenger could be heard saying the individual believed to be missing is a child.
Another passenger who shared a video of the ship circling around as it conducted a search said ‘a guy jumped off the boat.’
Another cruise ship that happened to be nearby was steaming toward the location to try to help in the rescue.
The identity of the person who went overboard hasn’t been revealed, though initial reports indicate that it was a guest and not a crew member.
Search and rescue operations were said to have been initiated promptly, with crew members throwing a flare in the water to mark the ship’s position when the ‘man overboard’ was reported.
Pictured: The Norwegian Epic cruise ship, the vessel that reportedly had a passenger go over board on Thursday
Passengers were seen looking out at the open ocean as the search for the missing guest continued
The boat was seen circling the area where flares were shot to mark the position of the ship when a man overboard was first reported
DailyMail.com reached out to Norwegian to confirm these details and obtain an update.
Cruise Hive reported that onboard announcements told passengers that the individual 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 seen racing toward the Norwegian ship in one of the videos.
The Zuiderdam’s home port is Port Everglades and is in the midst of a 7-night Caribbean itinerary as well, with Thursday being a day at sea.
Sunset in the Bahamas Thursday was at 5:18pm, which would have left rescuers only a few hours of sunlight to get to the victim.
In the first video, which was posted to X at 3:35pm, a woman behind the camera showed the ship circling around a red patch of water said to be the deployed flare.
‘They put a flare, they’re circulating. We did an entire circle looking for the guy that jumped off the boat. He jumped, he fell and bounced off of one of these [lifeboats] and fell in the water,’ she said.
In the other video, posted to TikTok around 5pm, the woman filming zoomed in to show what presumably was the Zuiderdam rushing to the Norwegian ship.
Pictured: Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam ship in South Queensferry, Scotland, on June 29, 2023
She panned up to a woman standing on a higher balcony who she said was screaming about the person who went overboard. She added that the woman didn’t want to answer more questions.
‘Some people have binoculars and are trying to look out in the water,’ she said. ‘Poor baby. I hope there’s a miracle. I hope there’s a miracle and they’re able to find him.’
‘My friend who is on the boat elsewhere said that there was a group of kids who were on their own, so the parent probably wasn’t even with the child,’ she speculated.
This latest tragedy comes just days after another person fell off a Caribbean cruise.
DailyMail.com reported that Elizabeth McElmurray, 48, died on the Sky Princess on December 21 as it returned to Florida from the Caribbean.
While the circumstances surrounding her death remain unclear, Princess Cruises says she fell while trying to ‘jump’ into the water, inadvertently landing on one of the cruise ship decks 10 stories below.
On December 15, McElmurray shared a photograph of herself smiling alongside her mother as they boarded the ship in Fort Lauderdale.
They were setting sail to scatter the ashes of her mother’s husband on his favorite beach in Jamaica.
Elizabeth McElmurray, 48, who tumbled to her death from a cruise ship during a Christmas Caribbean tour has been pictured smiling as she excitedly boarded the boat with her mother just days before. (McElmurray is pictured left, with her mother, Ellen Downie Mathews, right)
McElmurray, 48, was named by devastated relatives who are still trying to come to terms with her death. It remains unclear exactly what caused her to fall from the Sky Princess ship
‘I never expected to lose my daughter. I want to also publicly thank the crew for their kindness and compassion during this ordeal,’ her devastated mother, Ellen Downie Mathews, said in an online tribute.
McElmurray’s younger brother paid tribute in another post.
‘She was an amazing woman that loved her family,’ he said.
‘Her nurturing nature for animals was a wonderful quality we shared together I want to thank everyone who tried to help her and everyone’s kind words.
‘This is a loss that is so very heavy. Remember to tell your family and friends you love them, make them smile and laugh even when life is hard. Find beauty when ever you can and strength will follow.’
McElmurray was a manager at retailer Circle K, according to social media profiles. She was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, and lived in Wakefield, Massachusetts.
Passengers on board told DailyMail.com the captain gave the devastating announcement that McElmurray had died over the speakers on Saturday.
They told DailyMail.com she had tried to jump into the water from one of the top decks, but hit a lifeboat deck around 10 floors below instead. Police were seen combing the cruise ship later that day.
The ship had been making its way back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida from an eight-day voyage to Cozumel, Mexico; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; and the cruise line’s private Bahamian resort, Princess Cays, at the time.