Royal Caribbean cruise passenger missing after going overboard on Bahamas trip

A Royal Caribbean cruise ship has reported a passenger missing overboard. Photo / Supplied

A 41-year-old man went overboard on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship to the Bahamas at the weekend with officials now declaring him missing.

The New York Post reports the man was first notified as missing to the Coast Guard at 7.17pm local time on December 23 - two days after the cruise commenced.

His estimated location was 160km off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States.

It’s understood a rescue plane carried out an aerial search but after eight hours covering more than 4200sq km, it was suspended.

Speaking to South Carolina newspaper the Post and Courier, a spokesperson for the Royal Caribbean Group said a guest on one of their cruise ships had gone overboard.

“The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and launched a search and rescue mission,” the spokesperson said.

Passengers observe the rescue efforts after a 41-year-old man went overboard. Photo / TikTok @ColinSchappi

“Out of privacy for the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”

The cruise departed from Baltimore, Maryland, on December 21 with a passenger telling the newspaper he first heard that someone had fallen overboard at 7.45pm when the captain made an announcement and stopped the boat for about six hours.

“I instantly felt sick to my stomach knowing that one of our fellow travellers had been lost at sea,” he said.

The man said there was a flurry on the pool deck as many passengers rushed to the sides of the boat trying to spot the man.

“It’s definitely going to be rough continuing this voyage knowing that a family is missing their loved one.”

Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas. Photo / Getty Images

Another passenger, told WCBD-TV - a television station in Charleston - that he heard an announcement saying: “Oscar! Oscar! Oscar! Starboard!”.

That is reportedly a call to the ship’s crew members to signify an overboard emergency — and it occurred at about 7.15pm.

“We were wondering what was going on with that,” he said.

It has been reported that the boat - which has a capacity of 2000 passengers and 700 crew, will make a stop in Florida before visiting the Bahamas and return to its starting location of Baltimore on December 30.

The New York Post has reported that on average, 19 people go overboard on cruise ships every year.

Of that number, a 2020 study commissioned by the industry trade group Cruise Lines International Association, found that four on average are rescued.