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A cruise ship employee on the Carnival Sensation fell overboard and was never found. He fell 82 feet overboard.
Antonio Matabang, a 26-year-old man from California, was an off-duty member of Carnival’s entertainment staff. Co-workers reported Matabang as going overboard about 50 minutes after ringing in the New Year on the Carnival Sensation, which was just 20 miles east of Vero Beach, Florida. His co-workers threw him a life ring, but Matabang never resurfaced.
The Coast Guard was immediately called for help by ship officials.
The Carnival Sensation also assisted with the search shortly after the accident and returned to port. The ship was coming back from a four-day cruise to the Bahamas. A Carnival spokesman was quoted as saying, “our thoughts and prayers are with the young man at this time as well as with his friends and family.”
Search-and-rescue coordinators from Miami and Fort Pierce used four boats, two helicopters and two planes during the search attempt. Carnival also helped with the search, according to Coast Guard spokesman James Harless. An 87-foot cutter was kept in the area by the Coast Guard.
The search was eventually called off. Helicopters and patrol boats covered more than 3,000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean east of Vero Beach. Harless said that the current would have taken him in a northeast direction, but rescuers were not able to find Matabang.
Harless said that Matabang’s 82-foot fall and other conditions hurt his chances of survival. According to Harless, “it is a high distance. He fell into 7-foot seas without a life jacket at night. There are winds and strong current he was battling with, along with the high seas.”
Vero Beach law enforcement will be investigating the accident and Carnival is expected to conduct its own investigation.
