Man lost overboard from liner

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Herald Sun Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 09 Jan 05

 

A VICTORIAN man is lost, believed drowned, after leaping from a moving cruise ship north of Brisbane yesterday.

 

Horrified passengers watched unable to help as the unnamed 23-year-old jumped from the eighth deck of P&O Cruises' Pacific Sky about three nautical miles off Caloundra at 2.10am on Saturday.

He was last seen floating in rough seas 20 minutes later as the ship's crew lowered a lifeboat. But the man went under water and did not reappear.

 

Passengers had earlier tried to save him by throwing life buoys and plastic chairs into the water.

 

It is believed members of his family were on the deck at the time.

 

Dane Larkin, of Brisbane, was in bed when the alarm was raised and went to find his friends.

 

His mates were in shock and told him they had been drinking with the man and watched as he jumped overboard.

 

"I don't know if it was a dare or not, but he just ran and jumped straight off the side," Mr Larkin, 21, said.

 

"All his family and friends were on deck.

 

"They caught sight of him and then lost him."

 

Hervey Bay tourist John Roberts was partying with friends.

 

"They said a couple of guys were trying to stop him do it and then he just went over," he said.

 

Shane Boldizar and girlfriend Carlie Stephens, of Sydney, were standing near the man when he disappeared. Ms Stephens said he shouted for help.

 

"He was saying 'save me, save me'," she said.

 

P&O Cruises spokesman John Richardson said after the alarm was raised flares and strobe lights were also thrown overboard and the spot recorded on the Global Position System as the ship continued south.

 

It was 20 minutes before the liner could circle back to where the man was last seen.

 

"When the boat returned the man was conscious and could be seen, but as they were lowering the boat he disappeared," he said.

 

"He just went under and didn't reappear."

 

The ship continued to circle the area until about 7.30am when it was given permission to proceed to Brisbane.

 

Despite aerial and sea searches, a police spokesman said no trace of the man had been found by late last night.

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Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokesman Ben Mitchell said three helicopters and a number of boats had searched 33 square nautical miles for the missing man, who had been travelling on the ship with his parents, since first light yesterday without success.

 

Mr Mitchell said strong southerly winds and two to three-metre waves had hampered the search.

 

"There's a lot of whitecaps, which is making it very difficult to detect anything in the water, although they are picking up lots of chairs and tables and other bits and pieces that were thrown overboard as makeshift flotation devices when this guy entered the water," he said.

 

"From what I can understand, other passengers have seen him go in and they have just grabbed whatever was around and thrown it in after him, hoping he'll grab hold of it."