Woman tumbles off cruise ship deck in middle of night and vanishes, Alaska officials say
A passenger aboard a cruise ship sailing along southern Alaska fell off the vessel in the middle of the night and vanished, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
It happened around 3 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, as the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice was passing Eldred Rock in Lynn Canal, officials said in a news release.
Investigators have not released the identity of the 40-year-old woman.
The ship’s captain reported she fell overboard, but the circumstances were not revealed. The moment was recorded by a security camera, KOMO News reported.
Coast Guard air and surface crews searched the canal, covering 68 nautical miles in 9 hours, according to an update. The search was suspended indefinitely late May 17.
It is estimated an adult adrift in the 41-degree water has a “survival time of 6.19 hours,” Coast Guard officials told the Anchorage Daily News.
“Despite our best efforts to locate the individual, it is with heavy hearts that we make the decision to suspend the search,” Coast Guard Lt.j.g. Trevor Layman said in a release.
“The decision to suspend active searching is based on a number of factors including weather, sea state, water temperature and other variables.”
The Celebrity Solstice has an occupancy of 2,852 people and was offering a trip to view Alaska’s Dawes Glacier, according to the cruise line’s website.
Lynn Canal is a 90-mile long fjord in Southeast Alaska and is considered “the deepest fjord in North America at over 2,000 feet (233 fathoms),” according to Alaska Guide Co.
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