Search for cruise passenger reported overboard suspended

Published 10:30 pm Monday, May 16, 2022

The search for a woman reported fallen overboard from a cruise ship was suspended after nine hours of searching yielded no effort, said a Coast Guard spokesperson.

The search was suspended at around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Petty Officer 1st Class Ali Blackburn in a phone interview.

Sector Juneau watchstanders received a report from the captain of the Celebrity Solstice at approximately 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning that a 40-year-old woman had fallen overboard near Eldred Rock Lighthouse, approximately 56 miles northwest of downtown Juneau, according to the Coast Guard. The cruise ship also deployed watercraft to search for the woman, Blackburn said. Coast Guard assets began arriving on-scene at around 5 a.m., Blackburn said.

Sector Juneau deployed an MH-60 Jayhawk from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, a 45-foot Response Boat- Medium from Sector Juneau and the Cutter Chandeleur, a 110-foot Island-class patrol boat homeported in Valdez.

Celebrity Cruises did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at (757) 621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.