USCG Searching for Carnival Victory’s Missing Passenger

A search and rescue operation was launched on Wednesday for a 23-year-old passenger who fell off the cruise ship Carnival Victory some 33 miles northwest of Pinar Del Rio, Cuba.

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) informed that the missing person is Brandon Paul from Floral City, Florida resident, who reportedly went overboard from the eighth deck of the cruise ship at around 3 a.m.

The 272-meter-long cruise ship launched a search boat and contacted watch standers at the Seventh Coast Guard District Command Center.

A Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crew and the Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton were sent to assist in the search efforts.

USCG earlier said that the 101,509 gross ton cruise ship continues to search on scene.

As the incident occurred while the ship was near Cuban territorial seas, Cuban search and rescue authorities also launched assets to help out in the operation.

The 2,754-passenger cruise ship was sailing from the US port of Key West to the port of Conzumel, Mexico, on a four-day cruise at the time of the incident, according to AIS data provided by MarineTraffic.