The search for a crew member who was reported to have gone overboard from a cruise ship has ended.
An alert was raised by the AIDAperla after the man went missing on Sunday (October 22) while the vessel was in the English Channel, off Ramsgate, Kent.
HM Coastguard was co-ordinating the search for the worker after it was alerted at about 8.55am.
A HM Coastguard spokesman said on Monday (October 23): “At about 6pm on October 22 the search was ended for a man reported overboard from a passenger ship off Ramsgate.
“The search involved the Coastguard helicopter from Lydd, a Coastguard fixed-wing aircraft and the RNLI’s all-weather lifeboats from Ramsgate and Dover.”
A spokeswoman for AIDA Cruises confirmed on Sunday that there was reason to believe a crew member of AIDAperla went overboard in the English Channel in the early morning.
She said the captain and crew of AIDAperla immediately initiated all necessary rescue measures in close co-ordination with the local authorities.
The spokeswoman added the onboard search confirmed a male crew member was missing.
The ship was immediately stopped, returned to the spot where the man was believed to have gone overboard and took part in the search.
AIDA Cruises spokeswoman said the search for the missing person was the “utmost priority”.
AIDAperla was reportedly travelling from Hamburg, Germany, to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The Italian registered cruise ship has 1,643 cabins with capacity for 3,286 passengers across 16 out of a total 18 decks.
It operates with a service speed of 22.5 knots and has a gross tonnage of 125,572.
Kent Police and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) have been approached for comment.
