CNN –
A 19-year-old cruise ship passenger fell overboard within the Caribbean on Tuesday and a search is underway for him, in response to cruise firm Royal Caribbean and the passenger’s household.
However a relative of lacking Texas resident Sigmund Ropich says the household is determined for solutions and hasn’t heard a lot from Cuban Border Patrol officers main the search.
“We simply need our brother to be residence. They take too lengthy and barely inform us something,” his sister Savannah Ropich informed CNN, confirming he was a passenger on the journey.
The Royal Caribbean ship Surprise of the Seas departed Port Canaveral, Florida, on August 27 and set off on a seven-day voyage to the Western Caribbean, in response to its itinerary.
It’s unclear how the 19-year-old fell overboard and precisely how lengthy he was within the water earlier than the seek for him started. The ship’s crew “instantly launched a search and rescue operation and is working intently with native authorities,” Royal Caribbean mentioned in a press release on Wednesday.
Jenna Izzo of Rhode Island, who was on the cruise ship, used a voice Recording app to seize the second the captain informed passengers concerning the search.
“We even have a report of a person who fell overboard. “We’ve got slowed the ship,” the ship’s captain informed passengers over the intercom, in response to the voice memo Izzo shared with CNN.
“We’ve got made the U-turn and are returning to the place we had then,” the recording continues. “We’ll start the search and rescue operations with our rescue boat, with our searchlight and our crew shifting out to observe and hear for something.”
Izzo additionally captured nighttime video exhibiting a rescue crew utilizing the ship’s highlight to go looking the waters. Izzo mentioned the cruise ship searched for 3 hours earlier than persevering with on to Grand Cayman.
In response to Ropich’s sister and a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman, the Cuban Border Patrol is now main the seek for Ropich.
Savannah Ropich mentioned Friday that the U.S. Consulate had contacted the household and knowledgeable the Cuban Border Patrol “We’ll cease the ocean search and solely conduct a coastal and land search.”
CNN has reached out to Cuban border patrol officers for info however has not but heard again.
In response to the corporate, the 5,606-guest capability ship is scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on September 3.
