Passenger describes panic on cruise ship after a man fell overboard: 'I instantly felt sick to my stomach'

• A 41-year-old passenger fell overboard during a Royal Caribbean cruise.
• A fellow passenger said he felt "sick to his stomach" after the captain announced the news.

A 41-year-old man fell overboard while aboard Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas cruise ship, which was headed to the Bahamas.

According to the US Coast Guard, the ship was 127 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina, when the incident occurred.

The Coast Guard said Monday that it has since called off its search for the missing person.

In an interview with local newspaper The Post and Courier, 21-year-old passenger Jake Utzinger said he was lying in his bed when the captain announced the news on December 23.

"I instantly felt sick to my stomach knowing that one of our fellow travelers had been lost at sea," he told the newspaper.

According to the outlet, the ship stopped and the crew used a strobe light to search for the passenger for six hours. Utzinger said he and other guests headed to the pool deck to try to help with the search.

A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean said that the crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities who launched a search and rescue mission.

"Out of privacy for the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share," they added.

In a post on X, the Coast Guard said it suspended its efforts on Monday, after an eight-hour search that covered more than 1,625 square miles.

At least 10 other people have fallen overboard from cruise ships this year, Business Insider previously reported. Two of those passengers survived.

According to CruiseMapper, which tracks the locations of thousands of cruises around the world, the Vision of the Seas ship is currently traveling around the Bahamas.

The ship has the capacity to carry 2,500 passengers, and features a rock-climbing wall, outdoor movie screen, and swimming pools.