Search suspended for man who vanished from cruise in Gulf of Mexico, Coast Guard says
UPDATE: The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for missing cruise ship passenger Tyler Barnett after covering 5,625 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a Nov. 16 news release.
There original story is below.
A passenger has gone missing from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to search 5,625 square miles south of New Orleans.
Tyler Barnett, 28, of Houma, Louisiana, was traveling on the Carnival Glory when he “went overboard” about 30 miles southwest of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, officials say.
“Watchstanders received a report around 12:40 p.m. Monday from Carnival Cruise Line that they had an unaccounted-for passenger. Carnival reported he was last seen on security camera at approximately midnight Monday,” the U.S. Coast Guard says.
“Carnival reported Tuesday that they had discovered new security footage that showed a passenger going overboard early Monday morning.”
Aircraft and boats searched an area that followed about 200 miles of the ship’s path across the Gulf, officials said. The search was paused Monday night into Tuesday morning due to rough seas and high winds, officials said.
“Our crews battled severe weather conditions for multiple days and made every effort to find Mr. Barnett,” Lt. Cmdr. Sean DiGeorge of Coast Guard District Eight said in the news release.
“Suspending an active search is never a decision we make lightly, and we offer our most sincere condolences to Mr. Barnett’s family and friends.”
Carnival Glory is a 952-foot-long cruise ship that sails out of the Port of New Orleans and has a guest capacity of 2,980, according to Carnival.com. It launched on its current voyage Sunday, Nov. 12, for a seven-day round trip of the Western Caribbean, ending Nov. 19.
Barnett was reported missing after family members checked his cabin Monday and could not find him, station WWL-TV reports.
“His passenger card was swiped at the onboard casino at 12:15 a.m. and then it was swiped again at 12:27 a.m. to enter his room,” but his bed did not appear to have been slept in, the station said.
This story was originally published November 14, 2023 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Search suspended for man who vanished from cruise in Gulf of Mexico, Coast Guard says."