Search for woman who fell from a cruise ship ends

A search for a woman who fell overboard from a cruise ship has been called off by Australian authorities. The passenger has fallen from the "Pacific dawn" vessel at around 16:00 local time yesterday (April 12), about 300 km west of News Caledonia. According to Operator P&O Cruises, the cruise ship which was bound for Brisbane turned around immediately to search for the woman. Australian maritime authorities decided to end the search about 07:30 local time today (April 13). Making a statement P&O Cruises spokesman said the following; "The difficult decision to suspend the search was made only after expert advice that survival after this length of time in difficult sea conditions and after a full night at sea was not considered possible. Pacific Dawn had searched throughout the night and into the morning after first light without success." Foreign media reported that the woman had appeared to be seasick before she fell from the vessel amid rough seas. P&O Cruises said it could not confirm any details.