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Search suspended for missing British cruise ship entertainer
The US Coast Guard has suspended the search for missing British cruise ship entertainer Arron Hough, who is believed to have fallen overboard on Christmas Day.
Arron, aged 20, was reported missing after failing to turn up for work on Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas. CCTV footage showed him entering an area on deck in the early hours of the morning, but after that he was not seen again.
The ship is currently sailing a seven-night itinerary from Fort Lauderdale around the Caribbean and was 267 miles northwest of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, when Arron went missing.
The coast guard stopped the search at 2.30pm local time on Thursday after an 83-hour search that covered over 3,700 miles.
Commander Christopher Douglas, chief executive of the coast guard’s San Juan sector, said: "Suspending a search is one of the most difficult decisions we have to make as first responders and it is never made lightly."
Royal Caribbean said in statement: "We are saddened to report that after a review of the ship’s closed-circuit camera footage, he was observed entering an area on Deck 5 at around 4am and was not seen again.
"Local authorities were notified and a ship-wide search for the crew member was conducted."
Arron had graduated from the Urdang Academy performing arts college in London.
The Foreign Office said: "We are providing assistance to the family of a British man who has been reported missing off Fort Lauderdale."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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