British Man Missing After Falling From Cruise Ship near Tenerife
A 76-year-old British man is missing after falling overboard from the Marella Explorer 2 cruise ship on Thursday while en route to La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands. The Spanish coastguard launched a search and rescue operation Thursday morning and continued efforts Friday evening, but the man remains missing.
TUI, which operates Marella Cruises, confirmed the incident and stated it is indeed supporting the man’s family and cooperating with local authorities. The ship was traveling back to the canary Islands from Madeira, Portugal, at the time of the incident. It had departed Tenerife on November 21 for a seven-day tour of the Canaries and surrounding islands.
Passenger Lesley-Anne Kelly described hearing an alarm and a “man overboard” declaration while having breakfast. The ship participated in the initial search before docking in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the early hours of Friday. “It was pretty sombre last night, especially after the announcement that they were standing down the search,” Kelly said. She added that passengers were informed witnesses were being interviewed and that “peopel had clearly seen it happen,” noting the good visibility at the time.
the coastguard’s search on Friday involved rescue boats, two helicopters, and a specialist search and rescue aircraft.
the Marella Explorer 2 is registered in Malta and can accommodate up to 1814 passengers across 14 decks and 907 cabins, according to TUI’s website. The Foreign Office has stated it has not received any requests for consular assistance in connection with the incident.
