The US Coast Guard announced that this afternoon one of their helicopters recovered an unresponsive individual from the water near the Strait of Juan de Fuca. He was transferred to the Olympic Medical Centre, where he was later announced deceased.
The 73-year old man went overboard from the Seven Seas Mariner this morning around 4:30 a.m. when the ship was near Cape Flattery, around the mouth of the strait of Juan de Fuca.
#BreakingNews Coast Guard aircrew recovers 73-year-old male cruise ship passenger who went overboard near the Strait of Juan de Fuca: https://t.co/CKPRZh0ILp pic.twitter.com/ET7tOpKpLa
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) July 10, 2018
Victoria’s Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC) and the US Coast Guard were working together to try to locate him.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim who were affected by this tragedy,” said Capt. M.M. Balding, Sector Puget Sound Commanding Officer. “Any time we are unable to accomplish our goal of saving lives, we are deeply saddened. Our thoughts are with them in their time of grief.”
| Multiple Coast Guard crews are looking for a passenger who potentially fell off of a cruise ship near Cape Flattery, around the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. (Google Maps) |
The man was last seen by his wife around 4:00 a.m. She noticed he was missing around 4:30 a.m., when she felt the breeze from her open balcony door.
The USCG Pacific Northwest Twitter account originally released a statement, saying that a captain from the ship confirmed that a video showed the passenger jumping from an 8th-deck balcony at 4:15 a.m.
In an update, they have noted that there is no indication that the man jumped, or why he went overboard.
**UPDATE** In previous post, the word "jump" was used, however we have NO indication of why the individual went overboard. Investigation will help determine what happened. Again, we have NO CLEAR info on what lead to him going overboard; crews actively searching at this time.
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) July 10, 2018
A Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles aircrew, two Station Neah Bay boat crews, the Coast Guard Cutter Wahoo crew and a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter crew thoroughly searched the area before locating and recovering the individual.
The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.
The cruise ship, Seven Seas Mariner, is bound for Alaska and arrived in Victoria at 11:00 a.m. today.
