Photo via Wikimedia Commons
After 12 hours of combing the water by sea and air, rescue teams have called off the search for a P&O Ventura passenger who fell overboard off Britain's Isle of Wight Saturday morning, the BBC reported.
The cruise ship was returning to Southampton after a two-week trip to the Mediterranean when the unidentified man went over the side at about 4:30 a.m. local time.
Coastguard personnel, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and assorted vessels embarked on a search for the missing individual. Ventura helped as well, retracing its route for several hours, the BBC said.
Though the search ended, the coastguard has requested that watercraft in the area be on the lookout for the man, according to the BBC.
Ventura, with a capacity of up to 3,600 passengers and 1,200 crew, was due into port at 7 a.m., but was delayed by the search and arrived at 12:30 p.m.
Passenger postings on the P&O Cruises' Facebook page reveal a sad end to the trip.
"(The) atmosphere is (somber) as you can imagine and my thoughts go out to the passenger's family. So so sad," Kieron Baker said.
Helen Snape commented that, "The coastguard along with the RNLI have been searching relentlessly since the early hours. Thoughts go out to the gentleman's family."
Making a statement in a Facebook post before the search was called off, P&O Cruises said, "Following reports of a missing person earlier this morning, Ventura conducted a thorough search of the area off the coast of the Isle of Wight.
As a result of this search, which has now been handed over to the coastguard as is usual in these instances, Ventura's scheduled arrival into Southampton this morning is delayed..."
In a later post, the cruise line announced Ventura would leave the dock on its new voyage at 7:45 p.m.
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