Search suspended for Australian overboard south of Hawai‘i

HONOLULU — The U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday it’s suspending its search for an Australian cruise ship passenger in waters south of Hawai‘i.

Kevin Cooper, a search and rescue mission coordinator for the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu, said in a news release the Coast Guard decided to call off the search after reviewing the case and discussing it with Australian consular officials and the passenger’s next of kin.

The ship Quantum of the Seas notified the Coast Guard of a man overboard Tuesday night when the ship was 500 miles (800 kilometers) south of Kailua-Kona.

The Royal Caribbean International cruise ship searched for the passenger for about two hours before resuming its course to the Big Island. A Coast Guard C-130 air crew spent six hours searching on Wednesday before returning to Oahu to refuel.

Quantum of the Seas left Brisbane, Australia on April 12 and was scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on Friday.