A major search operation has been launched by HM Coastguard in the UK in the English Channel for a crew member who is overboard from a Carnival-owned cruise ship named AIDAperla, operated by German-based AIDA Cruises.
Crew Member Overboard AIDAperla
Search operations are underway in the English Channel for an overboard crew member from the AIDAperla cruise ship. The incident occurred on Sunday morning, October 22, 2023. At the time, the large cruise ship was off Ramsgate, located approximately 20 miles north of the southeast coast.
The RNLI said to ITV News that the call was received at 8:20 AM by the Ramsgate crew, and a crew out of Dover was launched just 15 minutes later. The HM Coastguard is coordinating efforts since it was alerted of the overboard at approximately 8:55 AM. The search is being conducted approximately 25 miles off Ramsgate.
In a statement, HM Coastguard said: “The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter has been sent from Lydd alongside a Coastguard fixed-wing aircraft and the RNLI’s all-weather lifeboats from Ramsgate and Dover.“
According to the Cruise Ship Tracker, AIDAperla is currently sailing a search pattern, and data shows the vessel circling in the English Channel. The cruise ship is scheduled to arrive in La Coruna, Spain, on October 23. No details are yet known if that arrival will be delayed.
AIDA Cruises said to Cruise Hive: “AIDA Cruises confirms that there is reason to believe that a crew member of AIDAperla went overboard in the English channel in the early morning of October 22. The captain and crew of AIDAperla immediately initiated all necessary rescue measures in close coordination with the local authorities.
“The search on board confirmed that a male crew member is missing. The ship was immediately stopped and returned to the spot where the incident was believed to have happened and has taken part in the search since.“
The AIDA Cruises ship departed Hamburg, Germany, on October 20 on a three-segment sailing, which is part of a much longer 27-day transatlantic voyage, with multiple embarkation and debarkation ports, such as in the Canary Islands, Dominicana, and Barbados.
AIDAperla is among one of the larger vessels in the fleet, which is part of nine brands owned by the Carnival Corporation. The cruise ship is 124,100 gross tons and was constructed in Nagasaki, Japan. AIDAperla has a passenger capacity of up to 3,400 and a crew capacity of 900.
