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Woman Overboard On Grand Princess Cruise Feared Dead (VIDEO)

Woman Feared Dead In Cruise Ship Incident

A cruise passenger is feared dead after reports that a woman jumped into the waters off Hawaii's Big Island.

A witness on board the Grand Princess cruise ship say they saw the woman intentionally leap into the Pacific Ocean Wednesday afternoon. Security cameras on board recorded the incident, but little is known about the passenger, besides being listed as a 54-year-old American in the ship's records. The woman's family has also asked her name be withheld for privacy reasons.

"This is very sad," Julie Benson, a spokesperson for Princess Cruises told the Daily Mail. "This was not an accident. It was apparent that she went overboard intentionally."

After discovering the woman was no longer on board, the ship's crew changed its course and began scouring the waters. The U.S. Coast Guard's HC-130 Hercules airplane joined the search roughly four hours after the woman went overboard but there has not yet been any sign of her, reports the Associated Press.

The 17-deck ship was three days into its 15-day itinerary from San Francisco to Hawaii, CNN reports.

Since 2010, cruise ships like the Grand Princess, have been required to feature a man overboard notification system to document passengers going overboard regardless of the circumstances, writes maritime laywer Jim Walker.

An estimated 208 passengers have fallen overboard on cruise ships and ferries in the last 18 years according to a database by cruisejunkie.com.

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