A cruise ship carrying British tourists was forced to abandon desperate searches for a passenger who went overboard. Passengers on Norwegian Jewel were woken up at 2am on Monday (October 20th) to emergency alarms being played out.
The ship, which is currently en-route from Ponta Delgada, Portugal to Miami, blared out a “code Oscar starboard” alarm to all onboard – a maritime emergency signal for a person overboard. The liner had set sail from Barcelona on October 15th 2025.
Now a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line confirmed a passenger did go overboard, and a search has been abandoned. The cruise ship spent hours searching for the passenger, but nobody was recovered.
via SWNS
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with them’
The statement said: “We are deeply saddened to confirm that on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, we were notified that a guest was reported to have gone overboard while the ship was sailing from Ponta Delgada, Portugal to Miami.
“The appropriate authorities were immediately notified, and an extensive search and rescue operation with multiple vessels was conducted. The search was unfortunately unsuccessful, and the ship was released by authorities to continue its voyage. Our team is attending to the guest’s loved ones during this very difficult time, and our thoughts and prayers are with them.”
A British passenger, who wanted to remain anonymous, added: “I was asleep in the cabin. The captain put out an announcement ‘code Oscar starboard’. As it was transmitted into our rooms also. I thought it might be serious and Googled it to find that Oscar means person overboard.
“We have just in the last 10 minutes had an announcement to confirm someone is overboard.”
Images taken from the cruise ship show other boats that joined the search to look for the person, but this search was not successful.
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