Search underway for Holland America crew member who 'purposefully' went overboard

Table Of Content

• Second tragedy confirmed on cruise ship where Aussie fell overboard
• 'I thought we were past this': Mums share their experiences of taking breastfed babies to live gigs
• Keep up with today's most important news
• Search suspended for Australian man who went overboard from cruise ship on way to Hawaii
• US Coast Guard suspends search for Australian man seen falling from cruise
• Royal Caribbean passenger goes overboard on trip to Hawaii
• US Coast Guard calls off search for missing Australian man Warwick Tollemache who went from cruise ship near Hawaii

A passenger has described the harrowing moment the ship suddenly stopped and turned at about 11pm on Wednesday (local time). It was very dark, search lights scanned the sea, rescue boats deployed, everyone confined to cabins,” he said in an email read allowed by 2GB host Ben Fordham. "The coast guard has made the difficult decision to suspend the active search for the passenger aboard the Quantum of the Seas," mission coordinator Kevin Cooper said in a statement. "The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities."

Second tragedy confirmed on cruise ship where Aussie fell overboard

Quantum of the Seas is on a 16-night cruise that departed Brisbane on April 12 and is set to conclude in Honolulu on April 28, local time. The cruise company has now confirmed a woman died from a medical episode just hours before Tollemache went overboard. Tollemache fell overboard while the ship was about 800km south of Kailua-Kona on the west coast of O’ahu, also known as Big Island, at 11pm on Tuesday (Wednesday night AEST). The Coast Guard confirmed to The Post it is still conducting a search and rescue operation in the waters off Cuba. “The early morning was definitely somber as so many people came out of their cabins to stare at the sea, hoping to be able to aid in finding the person,” said Amy Phelps Fouse, a passenger on the ship.

'I thought we were past this': Mums share their experiences of taking breastfed babies to live gigs

“There was a lot of yelling, and the crew was alerted immediately,” another passenger,  Deborah Morrison, told The Post. The 18-story ship was sailing between Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island when the as-yet-unidentified man jumped off one of the decks. The ship departed from Brisbane, Australia, on April 12 and is scheduled to dock at its final port stop in Honolulu on Friday. The ship departed from a Brisbane port a couple of weeks ago and was moving through the Pacific Ocean near the island of Honolulu when the man went over the railing.

Keep up with today's most important news

Search suspended for man overboard on cruise ship hundreds of miles away from Hawaii - ABC News

Search suspended for man overboard on cruise ship hundreds of miles away from Hawaii.

Posted: Thu, 27 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

“They should have kept looking – I don’t understand why they stopped the search,” she said. Fisher confirmed the Australian went overboard 500 nautical miles (926km) south of Hawaii’s Big Island. "We were wondering what was going on and it was followed by an announcement over the intercom saying that a passenger had gone overboard," Susan Whittington said.

Mr Tollemache disappeared overboard shortly after 11pm on Tuesday evening, local time, in waters 800km south of Kailua Kona, Big Island. Search and rescue mission coordinator, Kevin Cooper, from the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu, said Mr Tollemache's next of kin had been consulted before making the decision to call off the search. The sheriff's office homicide and crime scene units were dispatched to Port Everglades to investigate. The ship was sailing eastward along the Florida Keys at the tail end of a six-night Caribbean cruise when the incident happened.

A desperate search is underway for the missing passenger, who was holidaying on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship “Quantum of the Seas” before the nightmare unfolded 1400 kilometres south of holiday hotspot. “The Coast Guard has made the difficult decision to suspend the active search for the passenger aboard the Quantum of the Seas,” he said. "The search lights were on from the ship's bridge as well, they rapidly deployed their 'runabout' rescue vessel off the ship and then spent the next couple of hours in the water searching around.

Royal Caribbean passenger goes overboard on trip to Hawaii

"They broadcast several times that there was a suspected man overboard situation and that the crews were following their procedures. “Our family is heartbroken at the loss of our beloved Warwick,” Mandy Tollemache wrote on social media. Rukavina said crew were “frantically” trying to get the lights on the lifeboats to work. Huge swells overnight made conditions “near impossible” to find Tollemache, the coast guard said.

Ms West said the Royal Caribbean cruise staff "were amazing" and have kept all passengers updated throughout the ordeal. "They requested all guests return to their cabins and account for all their members and if someone was missing, to call 911 on our emergency systems here if we were missing a passenger. "We saw about five life rings that were floating in the ocean and there were search vessels and lots of lights on the water. One of those on board, Susan Whittington, said passengers were given little information about what had happened after they were woken at night by the ship shuddering to a halt. The US Coast Guard on Friday called off the aerial and marine search after finding no trace of Tollemache and discussing his chances of survival with his family.

Overboard From Royal Caribbean Ship Has Successful Rescue - Cruise Hive

Overboard From Royal Caribbean Ship Has Successful Rescue.

Posted: Mon, 30 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

An Australian man who went overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship has been identified and remembered as a “kind, beautiful, and gentle soul”. The Honolulu Command Centre has confirmed that the person missing is an Australian man, but provided no further details. “You couldn’t really see much, just the lights searching the area, but then it was very late at night. A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules aircrew completed five searches over the course of six hours while on scene. He added the crew had dealt with the situation in a “very professional and respectful way”. Gale Doyle, another passenger told ABC news she knew the calls of “Oscar Oscar Oscar” meant a person was overboard because she has been cruising extensively.

"The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities," the spokesperson said. Ken, another passenger on board the ship, told 7NEWS.com.au he and his wife were awake at the time of the incident, and saw the lifeboats and search lights being used. The US Coast Guard received the report from Royal Caribbean at 1am Hawaii time, and launched a Hercules aircraft at 7am Wednesday which reached the search area at 9am. The US Coast Guard is preparing to resume the search at first light on Thursday morning local time. The US Coast Guard said it will resume its search at first light on Friday morning local time, for a Brisbane man who went overboard from a cruise ship off Hawaii on Wednesday night. “The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the US Coast Guard, who has taken over the search,” the statement reads.

Another passenger Ken told 7NEWS.com.au he and his wife were awake at the time of the incident, and saw the lifeboats and search lights being used. The Australian man who fell overboard from a cruise ship earlier this week has been identified as 35-year-old Warwick Tollemache, the ABC reports. Another passenger on board the ship told Nine News that she was in bed when she heard an alert call over the cruise ship's PA system. Other cruise goers described a "somber" mood on board as the ship sailed on, according to the outlet.

All passengers were told to go back to their rooms so crew could conduct a head count. “We went onto our balcony and saw the searchlights and were sort of sitting there praying and hoping he’d be found,” one woman said. Yesterday, a C-130 Hercules aircrew carried out a six-hour aerial search of the area but was unable to locate the man. The crew member was noted missing when the ship docked at Fort Lauderdale Saturday.

"While on its trans-Pacific sailing, a guest onboard Quantum of the Seas went overboard," the spokesperson said. She said the cruise ship captain had been providing regular updates over the loudspeaker and had just confirmed there would be no further updates. Brisbane man Warwick Tollemache, 35, disappeared from the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship hundreds of kilometres south of the Hawaiian islands on Wednesday night, Australian time. Despite desperate search efforts involving beacons, buoys and rescue crafts, crews were unable to find any sight of him.

Ken could not confirm whether an earlier medical incident was linked to the man going overboard. The search will resume on Friday, Fisher added, and a safety broadcast was continuing to go out to mariners in the area urging them to keep a lookout for the man. Sea state, location, all of these factors can really play a part in the length of time someone is able to tread the water or survive,” he told 7NEWS. “Our family is heartbroken at the loss of our beloved Warwick,” Mandy Tollemache wrote.