Woman overboard in Gulf

June 16, 2009
www.pnj.com

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — The Coast Guard sent out ships and aircraft to search the Gulf of Mexico for a woman who reportedly went overboard from a cruise ship early today.

A 50-year-old woman was reported overboard by the Carnival Holiday at 12:04 a.m. CDT Tuesday, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The ship was about 75 miles southwest of Pensacola, Fla., at the time.

Carnival Corp. said a passenger reported hearing a splash in the water about 11 p.m. CDT, prompting a cabin-by-cabin search aboard the Holiday. Crew members lowered lifeboats to look for the woman but found nothing.

The Coast Guard search included two cutters, two airplanes and a helicopter. The Holiday, with a capacity of 1,452 passengers, is due back in Mobile on Saturday after a five-day trip to the Yucatan Peninsula.

The woman’s disappearance marked the second time in less than a month that a passenger went overboard from a Carnival ship based in the Gulf.

A Louisiana teenager on a high school graduation cruise aboard the Carnival Fantasy out of New Orleans went over the rails on May 24 about 150 miles southwest of Tampa, Fla. Authorities suspended a search after two days without locating his body.