Anchorage Daily News reports a California man may have fell overboard from the Holland America cruise ship Oosterdam on July 22nd in the Inner Passage between Sitka and Ketchikan.
The Coast Guard indicates the passenger is believed to have fallen into the water between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. while the cruise ship was sailing to Ketchikan. Family members reported the young man missing when he did not join them exiting the ship in Ketchikan. The cruise ship preformed a search of the area where the passenger believed to have fallen off the vessel. Such a search by the cruise ship is required by maritime law in a man overboard situation. The after the initial search did not locate the passenger the Holland American cruise ship alerted the Coast Guard.
Crews on a Jayhawk helicopter from Sitka, the 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter Naushon and a 47-foot Coast Guard lifeboat were deployed for the search and rescue mission. “We searched overnight and we’re still searching right now,” stated Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley. The passenger’s name has not been released.
