77-Year-Old Passenger Missing After Plunge From Holland America Ship Near Cuba

Midnight Alarm on the High Seas

The lights of Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam were still glittering against the Yucatán Channel when a single cry rose above the calypso band. At 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, witnesses told ship security, a 77-year-old man had climbed the teak railing of Deck 8, hesitated for a heartbeat, then disappeared into the black water 90 feet below.

Within minutes, the bridge sounded the general alarm, swung the 86,000-ton vessel hard-a-port, and hurled a white flare over the stern to mark the spot. Passorate footage shot by a Canadian traveler shows life-ring lights bobbing like low stars as the ship’s foghorn rolled across the waves every 30 seconds.

“Man Overboard” Protocol Kicks In

Cruise-line manuals call it the Williamson Turn—rudder hard over, full astern, circle back along the same track. The crew launched two rescue boats and deployed thermal-imaging cameras while 1,950 guests were asked to return to staterooms for head-counts. By 12:42 a.m., Miami-based Seventh Coast Guard District had received the digital mayday.

“We treat every report as if it’s the only one,” Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Santos told reporters in Key West. “Time is measured in nautical miles and fading body heat.”

A Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry surveillance plane lifted off from Air Station Miami at dawn, followed by the cutter Resolute, steaming from Havana’s western approaches. Cuban Border Guard sent the patrol boat GRGC-468 to sweep the 200-square-mile grid where currents run two knots toward the Florida Straits.

What We Know About the Missing Passenger

• Age 77, traveling alone; name withheld pending family notification.
• Embarked Fort Lauderdale Saturday on a seven-night western-Caribbean loop.
• Ship’s casino records show he cashed out $80 shortly before midnight.
• No note, no luggage in the water; balcony door ajar on Deck 6 cabin.

Vanishing Statistics

According to the Cruise Lines International Association, 14 passengers and crew went overboard on large-ship voyages last year; only three were rescued alive. The International Maritime Organization has no global mandate for automatic man-overboard detection, though thermal cameras and rail-mounted radars are slowly becoming standard on newer builds.

Holland America declined to confirm whether Nieuw Amsterdam—launched in 2010—carries such sensors, citing an ongoing investigation. The vessel continued to Cozumel, arriving two hours late so Mexican police could board and interview potential witnesses.

Family Waits Ashore

In Fort Lauderdale, the missing man’s daughter spent Wednesday pacing the cruise terminal, clutching a customs form that still lists her father as “in transit.” The Coast Guard says surface searches can remain effective up to 36 hours in calm water; wave heights in the channel have been three to four feet.

By sunset Wednesday the search had covered 1,400 square miles with no sign of the passenger. The Resolute will keep sweeping through the night, guided by drift models and the hope that keeps every sailor scanning the horizon.