Passenger Missing From Carnival Cruise Ship, Coast Guard Launches Search

A 28-year-old male guest has been reported overboard from Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Glory, and the US Coast Guard is engaged in extensive search operations involving multiple assets.

The ship is currently continuing on its itinerary, as the time of the guest’s disappearance is unclear. This also makes search efforts more complicated.

Man Overboard From Carnival Glory

Carnival Glory departed New Orleans on Sunday, November 12, 2023, for a 7-night Western Caribbean sailing. On Monday afternoon, a male guest – identified by family members as Tyler Barnett from Houma, Louisiana – was reported missing. Details about why he was reported missing or the timing of the report have not been released.

Crew members aboard the 110,000-gross-ton, Conquest-class ship immediately began emergency measures, including accounting for everyone aboard. When Barnett was not located, the US Coast Guard (USCG) was contacted to begin a search.

Two aircraft have been engaged to search more than 200 miles along the ship’s recorded voyage path. The extensive search area is necessary because the exact location where the guest may have gone overboard is not precisely known.

Messages have also been broadcast to other vessels in the region to keep a lookout for the missing passenger, as is standard procedure during any search and rescue operation.

Read Also: What Happens During a Cruise Ship Overboard Alarm?

Carnival Glory is not involved in the search – again, owing to the lack of information about exactly when the passenger may have gone overboard – and is continuing on its itinerary.

The ship’s next stop, the first port of call for the cruise, is Montego Bay, Jamaica on Wednesday, November 15 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. At this time, there are no reports of delays for the visit.

The remainder of the ship’s itinerary includes visits to George Town, Grand Cayman as well as Cozumel, Mexico, before Carnival Glory returns to New Orleans on Sunday, November 19.

Weather Complicates Search

Dangerous conditions in the search area, including gale wind strength and seas reported with 8-12 foot (2.4-3.7 meter) waves have forced a pause in the search operations, as it is unsafe for USCG craft to continue their efforts. The search will resume as soon as it is safe to do so.

As of late Tuesday morning, winds in the region range from 13-27 knots (15-31 miles per hour / 24-50 kilometers per hour) and higher, conditions that make it impossible for aircraft to safely operate for low-level searches. Furthermore, rough seas would cut visibility even more, making search efforts ineffective.

Sadly, rough weather would also impact the survivability of anyone in the water. The USCG will remain alert and continue the search when possible, accounting for possible drift with respect to weather conditions.

Recent Overboards

Unfortunately, overboard situations – while not frequent – do occur on cruise ships. Less than two weeks ago, a passenger went overboard from a charter sailing of Norwegian Pearl. In that incident, several hours of searching were unfortunately unsuccessful.

Yet sometimes emergency response can be initiated quickly enough to rescue an overboard individual. On Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas in late October, swift actions by the crew rescued an individual overboard near the coast of Spain.

Other overboard incidents have been reported this year from Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, and Quantum of the Seas; Princess Cruises’ Emerald Princess; AIDA Cruises’ AIDAperla; Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Elation and Carnival Magic; and other vessels.

While it may seem like overboards are frequent, it is important to remember that thousands and thousands of guests sail safely every week without any concerning emergency calls that denote these unfortunate incidents.

Cruise Hive’s thoughts are with the missing guest’s family members and friends at this troubling time, as well as the crew members of Carnival Glory as they cope with such a somber situation.