Coast Guard suspends search for overboard cruise ship crewmember
The Coast Guard Wednesday suspended its search for a cruise ship Grand Princess crewmember who intentionally jumped overboard about 1,133 miles northeast of Hilo on Monday night.
Two Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules airplane crews from Air Station Barbers Point conducted searches of the area and dropped two Self-Locating Datum Marker Buoys. (The SLDMB is equipped with a GPS sensor. Upon deployment in the water, it transmits its location periodically to the Coast Guard to assist with developing search areas.)
Also assisting in the search efforts, which covered 4,900 square miles, were the container ship Horizon Reliance and the Grand Princess’s sister ship Star Princess.
The crewmember, a 34-year-old Filipino man, was last seen at 10:26 p.m. Monday.
The Grand Princess left San Francisco Saturday for a 15-day cruise, with several stops in Hawaii. It was halfway between San Francisco and Hilo when the incident occurred, according to Princess Cruises.
Monday’s incident marked the second report of someone aboard the Grand Princess intentionally jumping overboard. In November a 54-year-old woman jumped from the vessel about 650 miles northeast of Hilo. At the time, the Grand Princess was on day three of a 15-day, round-trip cruise from San Francisco to Hawaii.
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