Search off Ramsgate for man reported overboard from cruise ship
AIDA CruisesA search is under way off the Kent coast after reports of a crew member falling overboard from a cruise ship.
The coastguard was alerted at about 09:00 BST on Sunday after the man disappeared from the German vessel AIDAperla off Ramsgate.
The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter was sent from Lydd alongside a fixed-wing aircraft.
The RNLI sent all-weather lifeboats from Ramsgate and Dover to join the search.
The AIDAperla was travelling from Hamburg in Germany to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, the cruise company has confirmed.
A spokesman for AIDA Cruises said: "The captain and crew of AIDAperla immediately initiated all necessary rescue measures, in close co-ordination with the local authorities.
"The search on board confirmed that a male crew member is missing. The ship was immediately stopped and returned to the spot where the incident was believed to have taken part in the search."
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