A crew member is reported missing from a Holland America Line cruise ship in Alaskan waters, according to the Alaska Anchorage News.
The 35-year-old crew member went overboard from the Holland America Line’s Amsterdam yesterday evening.
The male crew member was reportedly last seen on the cruise ship around 6 P.M. on Thursday. The ship’s master was eventually notified after the crew member did not show up for a work shift.
The Coast Guard stated that “the Amsterdam crew made extensive searches of the vessel, and turned the vessel around toward its last known position to search the water . . ”
Ship officials did not notify the Coast Guard of the missing crew member until 9 P.M. and the Coast Guard did not deploy a helicopter until 1 A.M. The helicopter crew began searching in the Sitka Sound early this morning.
The Coast Guard suspended its search this afternoon (Friday), according to Coast Guard press release. The Amsterdam has since continued its voyage toward Victoria, British Columbia,” according to a Coast Guard press release.
According to cruise expert Professor Ross Klein, there have been 319 people who have gone overboard from cruise ships since 2000.
The last person who went overboard from a HAL cruise ship was a passenger who went overboard from the Westerdam two and one-half weeks ago.
There is no indication that the Amsterdam was equipped with an automatic man overboard system, nor is there any indication that any closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) on the ship captured images of the man going into the water.
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August 7, 2018 Update: The crew member is Rezan Monteroso. He had been on the Amsterdam for just five days, and left behind a wife and children in the Philippines. Rest in Peace Mr. Monterosa.
Photo credit: 663highland – CC BY 2.5, commons / wikimedia.