Zandaam passenger overboard...search underway

[flagger]

This just came across Twitter:

 

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/886393.html

 

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching today for a woman who apparently fell overboard from a cruise ship in Southeast.

 

 

 

The 45-year-old woman, who was not immediately identified, is thought to have fallen overboard from Holland America's Zaandam between Douglas Island and Glacier Bay National Park, according to the Coast Guard.

The last-known sighting of the woman was about midnight, when she ordered room service while the ship was near Douglas Island. She was reported missing by a friend about 10 a.m., after the ship was already in the park. Officials aboard the Zaandam have been searching the vessel for any sign of the woman.

[kakalina]

I hope she is found safe and sound. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved in this type of search.

[kathynorth]

How awful! I add my prayers too.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry to hear this.

[songbert]

Praying that she is found alive and well.

 

Her friends and family must be just frantic....

[skankycat]

This is what Alaska TV has to say:

 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Coast Guard has launched a massive search in frigid Alaska waters for a cruise ship passenger who is believed to have fallen overboard.

The Coast Guard says the 45-year-old woman was reported missing by a friend at 10 a.m. Monday when the ship Zaandam was in Glacier Bay National Park about 75 miles northwest of Juneau.

The woman was last seen after she ordered room service about midnight, when the vessel was near Douglas Island.

Coast Guard spokesman Paul Webb says the search is focusing on the glacier-fed waters between the two points, which are 80 miles apart.

The waters in the area are 57 degrees.

Taking part in the search are a Coast Guard helicopter, two cutters, two rescue boats, two Glacier Bay vessels and two civil air patrol pilots.

[Nutbunch]

I guess they are sure she's overboard, not just sleeping it off in a lounge. I can't imagine what her friends and family must be thinking.

 

That's a lot of time 12:00am - 10:00am. From our experience there isn't a lot of people a foot after 12:00am -4:00am. There were a bunch of early early risers at 4:30am as we pulled into Glacial Bay. The sun rose around then and the early rises were all outside enjoying views and unobstructed camera angles. Certainly someone would have seen her fall if it was after 4:00am.

 

What a horrible situation. She's the same age as me. What could have happened?

[bjbear]

My prayers go out to her, I'm so sorry to hear this.

 

Sue

[themerle]

I'm sorry to hear about this woman. My prayers are being sent to her family and friends. May God comfort them as they wait for her to be found.

[innlady1]

That is very sad news. I'm so sorry to read it.

[Cruisin'Lady]

Thats horrible! I pray they find her and that she is alive. Question...don't they have cameras on all sides of the ships that monitor such activity? Maybe like on a 48 hour loop for taping? Just thought I read that somewhere..but it might have been a different cruise line.

[bepsf]

What a horrible situation.

What could have happened?

 

I suspect it's like the elderly couple who disappeared off the verandah of their Carnival suite a few months back - or any number of others who have quietly slipped over the aft rail in the middle of the night...

 

Some people have health, monetary, family or mental issues, etc. - and seeing no better options would prefer to take control of their own demise.

 

I just hope that she met her end as quickly and painlessly as possible, and that she finds greater happiness in her next life.

[sail7seas]

Oh Brian......... Leaves me speechless.

I won't begin to speculate and only hope, by some stroke of extreme good luck, she is found safe and sound.

 

[songbert]

The Coast Guard has recovered the body of a woman from the search area, but has yet to confirm that it is the woman reported missing....

 

How tragic, whatever the circumstances.

[cruisebum50]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/886393.html

[Kween Karen]

I heard this on the local news tonight......how very sad for all involved. It is a very frightening picture......... soooo soooo sad!

[AirGorilla]

Great job by the Coast Guard. They do some wonderful rescues and protect us. They often don't receive the recognition for great service that is well-deserved.

 

AG

[SeaBlue1978]

Great job by the Coast Guard. They do some wonderful rescues and protect us. They often don't receive the recognition for great service that is well-deserved.

 

AG

 

 

DITTO!!!! ALL of our Military Men and Women (which DOES include the United States Coast Guard) deserve the THANKS! of every American EVERY day!

 

Every time I pass someone in a US Military uniform I stop and say 'thank you", if they are wearing a cap that indicates a Military Unit, I excuse myself for interrupting them and then ask them 'if they served' if they have I thank them for their service and I also tell both groups that I also appreciate the sacrifices of their families.

 

The members of the Coast Guard are among our young men and women who risk their lives every day for the good of this country!

 

Please take a moment - they next time you see someone in a Military Uniform - to thank them!

[dandro]

How terrible and sad. My heart goes out to the woman's family and friends.

[Copper10-8]

Unfortunately sounds like a Search and Recovery instead of a Search and Rescue op. The article states that the body (still unidentified) was located by a civilian TEMSCO helicopter that was contracted by Holland America to aid in the search. TEMSCO is one of the helo companies that does helicopter (sightseeing/glacier/dogsled) tours in Alaska, frequently for cruise ship passengers

Sad!

[PathfinderEss]

Very sad, my prayers go out to her family and friends..........

[littlebluebook]

oh how sad. Its the one thing that keeps me far away from the edges especially on our nighttime walks up on deck. I get paranoid i'll get blown over the railing. I never walk alone either.

 

Perhaps like others, it wasn't an accident, but whatever its a sad situation :(

[Goldryder]

The lady has now been identified as 45 year old Amber Malkuch from Washington State..

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iekfkB50JY8Kn9lmXMcmPw8WafYgD99RSSIG0

 

Sympathies go to her family & friends.

[mrsltg]

So sad. Unfortunately it does seem like a suicide. I really don't understand this sort of thing. I get why people sometimes feel they have no options. Okay. However, why involve anyone else? The Coast Guard, the ship's crew, friends and family onboard, other passengers... If you truly feel you need to end things then please, do so without jeopardizing (the search and rescue team) and without traumatizing others.

[Goldryder]

So sad. Unfortunately it does seem like a suicide. I really don't understand this sort of thing. I get why people sometimes feel they have no options. Okay. However, why involve anyone else? The Coast Guard, the ship's crew, friends and family onboard, other passengers... If you truly feel you need to end things then please, do so without jeopardizing (the search and rescue team) and without traumatizing others.

 

When someone has hit rock bottom and want out of their life, they don't think of how others will be affected. They feel that no-one will miss them, that life for others will be better without them...they detach themselves from reality in many ways.

 

People who choose a ship to end their lives don't do it lightly, just as those who use other means to end their lives don't. No-one, not even their nearest and dearest really know why a loved one chooses to turn off their life like this, something snaps inside that person and there is no going back.

 

This lady's family will be devastated, that goes without saying, there will be questions as to why they didn't notice a mood change or a word spoken out of place...at the end of the day only the person concerned knows the real reason why the full stop came on that day and at that time.

 

Just very very sad for everyone involved, this lady may well have had demons that she and few (if any) others knew about and things came to a head. Few suicides come with warnings, otherwise many more would be preventable.

 

Hopefully this lady will be now at peace from her demons, if that is the cause of this tragedy, and her family will be left to grieve for her with dignity, at least they will have a body to bury and a grave to mourn at, other families of suicides are not so fortunate as many loved ones from ships are never found.