The search for a passenger who went missing from the Carnival Ecstasy cruise ship was suspended after 43 hours, according to the United States Coast Guard.
Namely, the 32-year-old Rina Patel, from Interlaken, New York, was reported missing on Wednesday while the 1991-built Carnival Ecstasy was some 27 miles southwest of Freeport, Bahamas.
Watchstanders with the 7th Coast Guard District command center received notification from the cruise ship’s crew that the woman was reportedly seen going overboard around 2:30 a.m. from the 11th deck.
USCG coordinated a search operation with helicopter and airplane crews, the Coast Guard Cutter Gannet and the Coast Guard Cutter Dolphin.
The crews covered a combined search area total of more than 2,800 square miles.
Prior to the incident, Carnival Ecstasy made a port of call in Nassau, Bahamas on Tuesday. It was scheduled to be in Charleston, South Carolina on Thursday.