Coast Guard continues search for lost cruise passenger

Speaking of things you don't hear about every day — we were, weren't we? — the Coast Guard is continuing its search today for a man who went overboard from a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. A passenger on the Carnival Conquest reported seeing the man, 42, fall from a cabin balcony at about 11 p.m. Saturday, near the end of the ship's week-long Caribbean cruise. The ship was 110 nautical miles southeast of Sabine at the time.

The ship command began search procedures and notified the U.S. Coast Guard, which called in rescue helicopters from Mobile, New Orleans, Houston and Corpus Christi and the Heron, a Coast Guard cutter from Sabine Pass. "All of them conducted multiple searches," Coast Guard Petty Officer Adam Eggers told the Chronicle; the ship stayed put for several hours and even turned around to focus its lights on the search area — but the passenger wasn't found.

After a while, the Conquest proceeded to Galveston, where it docked about three hours late Sunday morning. The Coast Guard kept searching yesterday, but eventually called off the search for the night; it's expected to continue this morning. FBI agent Shauna Dunlap told the Chron that officials are gathering facts about the case, but "at this point, it doesn't look like there's any foul play."