Coast Guard suspends search for overboard cruise ship passenger

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - Search efforts in the Lynn Canal have been suspended for a woman who fell overboard from a cruise ship Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard reports.

In an email, the Coast Guard said they were searching for a passenger of the Celebrity Solstice near Eldred Rock in Lynn Canal. The Coast Guard wrote that a 40-year-old woman fell overboard at approximately 3 a.m.

In an interview, Coast Guard Spokesperson Alison Blackburn said that search efforts had been suspended shortly after 2 p.m. Blackburn said that the woman was a passenger on the cruise ship.

“The cruise ship actually had their own rescue boat conduct searches prior to the Coast Guard arriving on scene and we arrived on scene at approximately 5 a.m.,” Blackburn said. “What I know of it is that it’s heavily used by cruise ships. From what I understand, I know there is a lot of boating activity in that area and we would just encourage mariners transiting the area to use the marine channel 16 If they notice anything out of the ordinary.”

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Sitka, a 45-foot boat from Juneau and the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Chandeleur are involved in the search.

“We did very thorough searches and just given that the weather was I mean, it’s nice out and it that makes visibility really easy for us,” Blackburn said. “So just that determination of the thorough searching, the amount of hours that we had been searching are all what contributed to suspending the search after everything yielded negative results.”

This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.

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