British woman missing from cruise ship in Atlantic

What the report says

BBC World News reports that a British woman aged 72 has gone missing from the Marella Voyager, a Tui cruise ship travelling across the Atlantic toward the Caribbean. She was last seen on board on Monday, and crew members discovered she was missing on Tuesday after noticing her bed had not been slept in. Tui said an onboard search was carried out after the alarm was raised.

According to the report, the case was then passed to the US Coast Guard, which asked the ship to continue its voyage rather than turn back. The vessel is understood to have been able to travel a significant distance between the last sighting and the time she was reported missing. The BBC also said an emergency headcount was ordered and passengers were temporarily asked to leave dinner, drinks and entertainment while crew checked everyone on board.

The Marella Voyager is carrying about 2,000 passengers and 800 crew and had departed Malaga on 4 November. It is due to reach Antigua before later stops in Dominica and Barbados. Marella Cruises said it was deeply saddened and is supporting authorities, while the UK Foreign Office said it is helping the family and is in contact with relevant officials. The wider significance of the case is the difficulty of searching at sea once a ship is far from shore, although the BBC said it had not independently confirmed every detail of the onboard response.