Search for Royal Caribbean Crewmember Called Off

After searching a total of over 5,000 square-nautical miles, the United States Coast Guard has suspended the search operation for  a cruise ship crewmember who went missing from the cruise ship Liberty of the Seas on April 24.

The search for Norman DeCastro was halted at 12:42 pm local time on Tuesday after the authorities searched the area some 170 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Eighth District command center in New Orleans received a report on Monday that the 39-year-old Filipino crewmember was missing aboard the cruise ship, operated by Miami-based cruise line Royal Caribbean International.

The USCG said that the was last seen at 10:30 pm, Sunday, on the ship’s closed-circuit television.

Involved in the search efforst were HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crews from Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi and Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, and the coast guard cutters Manowar and Pompano.