Overview
- The passenger went overboard on Jan. 1 while the Nieuw Statendam was about 40 miles northeast of Sabana, Cuba, during a seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise.
- The ship’s captain and crew initiated search-and-rescue procedures and coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard.
- Coast Guard assets included the cutter William Trump and an MH-60 helicopter from Air Station Clearwater.
- The agency said crews searched roughly 690 square miles for about eight hours before suspending operations pending new information, though some reports cite longer activity.
- Holland America canceled a planned Key West stop as its family-assistance team supports relatives, and prior reporting notes such overboard incidents are uncommon but often fatal.