The following is the text of a press release issued by the U.S. Coast Guard:
(MIAMI) — Coast Guard crews are searching for a 21-year-old woman from Bartlett, Tenn., who reportedly fell overboard off the cruise ship Allure of the Seas 47 miles east of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Sunday night.
Search and rescue coordinators at Coast Guard Sector Miami were notified by the Captain of the Allure of the Seas with the report of a missing woman passenger. Crewmembers aboard the Allure of the Seas searched the cruise ship for the woman and reported negative results.
Coast Guard crews are currently searching for the missing person in the water. The search area spans out approximately 320 square miles.
Assisting in the search are:
- A Coast Guard Air Station Miami MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew
- An HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Miami
- A C-130 fixed-wing aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla.
- Coast Guard Cutter Diamondback crewmembers
- MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., deployed to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) on Andros Island Bahamas.
Anyone with more information on the missing person in the water is asked to contact 7th Coast Guard District search and rescue coordinators at 305-415-6800.
