Coast Guard searches for Royal Caribbean Cruises passenger overboard

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a passenger who went overboard off a Royal Caribbean Cruises ship as it motored toward Puerto Rico.

Company spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said Sunday that the captain of the Adventure of the Seas stopped the ship, turned around and alerted authorities after a passenger reported seeing the person going overboard late Saturday. In a Sunday email, Martinez said footage of the incident was also captured by the ship's cameras.

In a statement, the Coast Guard identified the passenger as “Tien Phuoc Nguyen, a 26-year-old man and Canadian citizen, who reportedly was on a cruise with his family when he was last seen by other cruise ship passengers jumping overboard at approximately 8:46 p.m. Saturday.”

The ship was 15 nautical miles east of Mona Island, Puerto Rico when the man jumped overboard, the Coast Guard said.

When the U.S. Coast Guard assumed control of the search early Sunday, the cruise ship resumed its trip to Puerto Rico's capital of San Juan.

The Royal Caribbean ship was finishing a seven-night trip and returning to San Juan.