Italian Chef Missing at Sea on Caribbean Cruise

Officials say Italian cruise ship chef missing in Caribbean; life preserver can't be found

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press Writer
ROME November 29, 2009 (AP)
abcnews.com
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Colombian maritime authorities searched Sunday for an Italian chef believed to have gone overboard from a U.S. cruise ship off Colombia's Caribbean coast, officials and the man's family said.
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There were different accounts about when and where Angelo Faliva, 31, was last seen as the Princess Cruises "Coral Princess" sailed from Aruba to Cartagena, Colombia, between Nov. 25 and 26.
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Princess Cruises spokeswoman Julie Benson said Faliva was last seen on a deck at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 26, when he spoke with another crew member as the ship neared Cartagena.
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His family, however, said they had been told that he had unexpectedly walked out of the ship's galley at about 8:15 p.m. the night before, while he was working the dinner shift, and never returned and hadn't been seen since.
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The Faliva family said it was alerted Thursday that he had been reported missing and that a life preserver was also missing, with its nighttime illumination flares torn off and left aboard the ship.
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.read entire article here
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So...when a CHEF goes missing, it's a big deal, but losing the occasional cruise passenger is business as usual. For the life of me, I can't imagine that anyone would commit suicide by shark. Maybe they count on drowning before hypothermia or predators. But imagine being in the dark water at night--pitch black. Just the thought makes me woozy.
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also read:
FBI investigating missing cruise ship chef - News- msnbc.com
Mystery at sea: Italian Chef missing from cruise ship Gadling.com
Italian Chef Missing at Sea on Caribbean Cruise - International ...

Search launched for missing cruise ship passenger

August 3, 2009
AP via ksn.com

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Coast Guard has launched a massive search in frigid Alaska waters for a cruise ship passenger who is believed to have fallen overboard.

The Coast Guard says the 45-year-old woman was reported missing by a friend at 10 a.m. Monday when the ship Zaandam was in Glacier Bay National Park about 75 miles northwest of Juneau.

The woman was last seen after she ordered room service about midnight, when the vessel was near Douglas Island.

Coast Guard spokesman Paul Webb says the search is focusing on the glacier-fed waters between the two points, which are 80 miles apart.

The waters in the area are 57 degrees. Taking part in the search are Coast Guard aircraft and cutters as well as civil air patrol pilots.

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.

Man falls from cruise ship, found clinging to buoy

Monday, June 15, 2009

Bay News 9

PINELLAS COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- A man who fell from a cruise ship Monday morning was rescued after he was found clinging to a buoy, nearly three hours after he went overboard.

According to reports, at 4 a.m. Monday, Larry Miller, 46, fell overboard from the Carnival Inspiration as it was returning to the Port of Tampa.
The crew of a pilot boat found Miller clinging to a buoy in the shipping channel near the Sunshine Skyway shortly before 7 a.m.

Miller was taken to the Fort DeSoto boat ramp, where an emergency vehicle picked him up and took him to Bayfront Medical Center. He was treated for minor injuries.

A spokesperson for Carnival said Miller fell overboard when he climbed on a railing to get a better view of a boat as it passed by. He slipped, then fell overboard...
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It is good to hear from one of these boneheads. I've often wondered, how in the hell can so many people fall overboard? It certainly doesn't seem like a reasonable way to kill oneself. This one was lucky. I hope he'll stay behind the railing from now on.

Search ended for Bruce Okrepki, 18, missing Carnival Fantasy Cruise ship in the gulf off Tampa

May 27, 2009
http://www.wtsp.com/
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Tampa, Florida -- The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a teenager who went overboard from a cruise ship Sunday night about 150 miles southwest of Tampa.
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The Coast Guard says it searched nearly 5,300 square miles for Bruce Okrepki, 18, of Hammond, La. He was reported missing from the Carnival Fantasy during a trip to celebrate his high school graduation.
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O'Krepki recently graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Hammond, La., where he ran track and played soccer. He was with about 35 classmates on the ship. His uncle Rick O'Krepki said the teen's parents were among the chaperones on the cruise, according to the Associated Press.
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"After an exhaustive search effort to find Bruce O'krepki, we have made the difficult decision to suspend our active search efforts," said Capt. Drew Pearson, the Seventh Coast Guard District's chief of search and rescue. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time."

Man missing after falling overboard in Bahamas

Right: Norwegian Cruise ships
Apr 18, 10:27 PM EDT

Man missing after falling overboard in Bahamas

MIAMI, Fla. (AP) -- The Coast Guard has suspended its search for a 39-year-old man who went overboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship off the Bahamas.

The incident happened early Saturday morning, about 60 miles north of Nassau. The man was not immediately identified, but fellow passengers saw him go overboard.

The ship was headed to Nassau, its first port of call on a three-day voyage. Several cruise ships in the area were assisting Coast Guard crews in the search.

The Coast Guard says in a release that it suspended its search around 8 p.m. Saturday after searching 590 square miles.

Coast Guard Suspends Search for Elderly Couple Missing From Cruise Ship

01/17/2009 --
MyFox Orlando

The Coast Guard suspended its search Saturday for an elderly couple believed to have fallen off a cruise ship between Long Beach and northern Mexico.

The aerial search for the 90-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife was halted after officials determined that their chances of surviving in the water were slim, said Chief Warrant Officer Scott Epperson.

"Factoring in their age and weights, their survivability in 59 degrees water was about 4 to 6 hours," he said. "The last time they were seen was 84 hours ago."

The couple were last seen Tuesday aboard the Carnival Paradise.

Officials also consulted with the couple's relatives, who agreed to suspending the search, Epperson said.

Miami-based Carnival said their cabin door was double-locked from the inside with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle. Their belongings remained inside and the door leading from the cabin to the private balcony was unlocked.

Crews searched throughout the night, tracing the route the ship had taken since it left Long Beach on Monday, with stops at Santa Catalina and in Ensenada, Mexico, before returning Friday.

The FBI was investigating, spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Elderly Couple Missing From Cruise Ship

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The U.S. Coast Guard was searching Friday for an elderly couple who authorities believe fell off a Carnival Cruise ship between Long Beach and northern Mexico.

A 90-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife were aboard the Carnival Paradise when it left Monday from Long Beach, but they could not be found when it returned Friday morning, the FBI said.

A Coast Guard airplane was expected to conduct an all-night search between Ensenada, Mexico, Catalina Island and Long Beach, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Prentice Danner, a Coast Guard spokesman.

Miami-based Carnival said the couple's cabin door was double-locked from the inside with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle. Their belongings remained inside and the door leading from the cabin to the private balcony was unlocked.

"(They) are missing and presumed to have gone overboard," Carnival said in a statement.

The couple's names and hometowns have not been released. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the couple were last seen Tuesday night near their cabin. She said federal agents were interviewing passengers and crew and processing evidence.

The cruise started in Long Beach and stopped in Santa Catalina Island and Ensenada. Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said she did not know if the couple disembarked at either location.

Search goes on for Carnival cruise worker

Scott Travis (Fort Lauderdale) Sun Sentinel
January 2, 2009

Rescue workers were still searching Thursday night for a cruise-ship employee who tumbled 82 feet overboard sometime after midnight while celebrating New Year's Eve.The cruise line has not released the identity of the employee, whom co-workers reported as going overboard about 50 minutes after ringing in the New Year on the Carnival Sensation, which was 20 miles east of Vero Beach. Co-workers threw him a life ring, but he never resurfaced, according to WPTV-Channel 5 in West Palm Beach.

Ship officials immediately began a search and contacted the Coast Guard for help.The employee was an off-duty member of Carnival's entertainment staff, the cruise line said. Six fellow crew members saw him go overboard, the Carnival said in a statement.

The Sensation helped with the search, then returned to port. It docked at Port Canaveral about 10 a.m. Thursday after a four-day cruise to the Bahamas.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the young man at this time as well as with his friends and family," a Carnival spokesman said in a statement Thursday. Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator, is based in Miami.

Search-and-rescue coordinators from Miami and Fort Pierce used four boats, two helicopters and two planes in their search. Carnival is also assisting the search, said Coast Guard spokesman James Harless.

The aircraft returned to base once night fell. The Coast Guard still had an 87-foot cutter in the area Thursday night, and will reassess the search this morning.Rescuers were searching more than 1,000 square miles. The current would take him northeast, Harless said.

Harless said the man's steep fall, as well as other conditions, hurt his chances of survival."It is a high distance. He fell into seven-foot seas without a life jacket at night," Harless said. "There were winds and strong current he was battling with, along with the high seas."The water temperature was 72 degrees, he said.

Local law enforcement in Vero Beach will investigate, Harless said. Carnival will conduct its own investigation as well, he said. WPTV reported that the FBI is investigating, although the incident appears to be an accident.

The missing employee is the second person in a week to make news for going over the rail of a cruise ship.Winter Haven resident Jennifer Ellis Seitz, 36, went off the Norwegian Pearl ship and into the Gulf of Mexico on Christmas Day. Her body has not been recovered, and multiple searches for her have ended. Family members said they think she might have jumped.

Alan Schmadtke of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press also was used. MICHAEL R. BROWN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS -->

Family believes cruise passenger jumped into sea

Monday, December 29, 2008
MIAMI(AP)

The family of a missing cruise ship passenger said Monday that they suspect the woman "chose an unfortunate ending to her life" and jumped from a cruise ship balcony into the waters off Mexico's coast on Christmas night.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Monday for Jennifer Ellis Seitz, a Florida journalist, after combing more than 4,200 square miles off the coast of the popular resort area of Cancun, where the ship had just visited. Mexican authorities said they would continue their search for another 48 hours.

Seitz had "previous emotional issues," yet there were no outward signs of distress while on the seven-night cruise from Miami, her family said in a statement given to one of her former employers, The News Chief in Winter Haven. Seitz's mother joined her daughter and son-in-law on the cruise.

"Jennifer was in a very happy and uplifted mood both before and during the cruise," the Ellis family said in the statement. "She was excited about starting a new job and her future career with a local newspaper. She and her husband had been talking about starting their family. The family suspects that Jennifer chose an unfortunate ending to her life. She was a beautiful and caring person and will be truly missed by all who love her."

Seitz and her husband, Raymond, were celebrating their one-year anniversary on the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship.

A surveillance camera showed someone falling overboard at 8 p.m. Christmas night, authorities said. About eight hours later, Raymond Seitz reported his wife missing.

FBI spokesman Mike Leverock says agents met the ship at the dock in Miami on Sunday, collected materials and "are still trying to determine if a crime occurred."

Norwegian Cruise Line said it is "cooperating fully" with the FBI.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the guest during this difficult time," the company said in a news release.

Raymond Seitz has not been charged with any crime, authorities said Monday.

The couple met in a weight loss support group; both had undergone bariatric surgery. She chronicled her weight loss journey for an Orlando TV station.

She was also a freelance writer, having written articles for The Tampa Tribune, The Ledger in Lakeland, and an online article titled, "Battling the Bulge Onboard," about how not to gain weight while aboard a ship.

On her Web site, Seitz described herself as an "avid traveler and an amateur chef." She was previously a reporter for Florida Today, a newspaper in Melbourne.

Raymond Seitz was arrested in April on a charge of domestic violence-battery after being accused of head-butting his wife. The charge was dropped after he entered a pretrial diversion program. Records show that she asked the prosecutor not to pursue the case.

A fellow passenger on the ship, Jim Nestor, told NBC's Today show that Seitz and her new husband stood out on the ship with "large and raw personalities."

Many of the passengers saw them as contestants on an on-board game called "The Not-So-Newlywed Game," modeled after a 1960s TV quiz show. The game was also carried on the ship's closed-circuit TV channel.

"They stood out a lot more than other people," Nestor, a retired police officer, told NBC.
Nestor, who appeared on the game show with his own wife, said he ran into Raymond Seitz day after his wife was reported missing.

"I had given him my condolences, and he had a plastic bag filled with quarters, and he said to me that he was going to the casino to see if he could change his luck," Nestor said.