A cruise ship bound for the Big Island of Hawaii that left San Francisco Bay on Saturday has been diverted off its course as it searches for a missing crew member who went overboard sometime after 10 p.m. Monday night. Video surveillance has shown the crew member, a Filipino national, "intentionally going overboard," as reported on SF Appeal. The incident happened about 1,100 miles northeast of Hilo, and the ship has changed course in order to look for the man.
The Grand Princess is now in its fourth day of what was to be a 15-day Hawaiian cruise, and they're currently circling along with a sister ship, the Star Princess, and the Coast Guard’s HC-130 Hercules airplane crew, all in search of the missing 34-year-old crew member.
All 2,607 passengers aboard the ship were confined to their cabins on Tuesday as the crew performed a full headcount. There are 1,088 crew members on board as well. The ship was scheduled to return January 19.
Back in November, Princess Cruises also had to deal with an overboard passenger when a 54-year-old woman jumped to her death from the boat in an area of ocean not far from this incident, 650 miles from Hilo. That woman's name was not released.
Once again, this is not terrific PR for the cruise ship industry which has been battered by various tales of stranded and sinking ships in recent years. But yes, just a sad story all around.
