The Tribune

A SEARCH is under way in the northern Bahamas for a 24-year-old man who went overboard from a cruise ship.

The US Coast Guard said on Tuesday morning that it sent aircraft out to look for the missing passenger about 15 miles southwest of Abaco. The man’s wife reported him missing when the Carnival Elation reached Nassau.

The Coast Guard and Carnival Cruise Lines said that a check of closed circuit TV showed the man had gone overboard about six hours earlier.

The ship was on a five-day cruise of the Bahamas after departing its home port in Jacksonville, Florida.

Meanwhile, passengers on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship who were expecting to be on their way to the Bahamas instead spent Monday night and most of Tuesday stuck at a port in central Florida after Coast Guard inspectors found safety issues on board the ship.

Passengers had already boarded the Majesty of the Seas when it was announced that their departure from Port Canaveral would be delayed. US Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Dickinson said the delay had to do with the life-saving equipment on board, not the ship’s engine.

Company spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said on Tuesday in a statement that some of the outdoor lifejackets on the Majesty of the Seas were showing their age. She says that during a routine inspection the US Coast Guard found some other technical issues that are being addressed. Royal Caribbean officials said replacement life jackets have arrived at the cruise ship.

The ship finally departed after a 24-hour delay on Tuesday. The ship's 2,515 guests will receive onboard credit for 25 per cent of their cruise fare as compensation for being inconvenienced, as well as a 25 per cent discount on a future cruise, Ms Martinez said in a statement.

Associated Press