A search operation has been launched following reports that a 50-year-old male went missing from the cruise ship Carnival Paradise some 85 miles west of Fort Myers, Florida, on Tuesday.
United States Coast Guard identified the missing person as Brian Lamonds from North Carolina.
According to the Coast Guard, watchstanders received a call at about 10 a.m. local time from the cruise ship stating that the man was missing and reportedly went overboard from the Carnival Paradise.
A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, an Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft crew and the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Isaac Mayo, homeported in Key West, are aiding in the search.
The 70,367-ton ship was en route to Cozumel, Mexico, at the time of the incident.