A crew member was reported missing from the cruise ship Norwegian Gateway on Saturday, while the vessel was sailing 28 miles northwest of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Ships authorities contacted watchstanders at the Coast Guard 7th District Command Center at 3:20 p.m. that a 33-year-old Filipino crewmember was seen going overboard. Norwegian Getaway captain turned the ship around and the crew was searching eight hours for the missing person.
The US Coast Guard send an Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane to conduct a search at 3:30 p.m. The airplane covered an area of more than 1,630 square miles however, they didn’t manage to locate the missing crew member.
The photo shows the route Norwegian Getaway took to go back and look for the crew member.
Luckily after 24 hours, the crew member was found by another cruise ship sailing nearby. The cruise ship Carnival Glory found and rescued the missing crew member some 21 miles north of Cuba. The U.S. Coast Guard, says that the crewmember is reported in stable condition and investigation is underway.
According to Sea Ambassador, the missing crew member is Francisco Santiago who was working as a “Hotel Utility” on Norwegian Getaway (bellow is a photo from the missing crewman Francisco Santiago). Some sources say that Francisco was suffering from depression and that he jumped off the ship.
