The Australian man feared lost in the Pacific Ocean after going overboard from a Hawaii-bound cruise ship has been identified.
Family and friends have shared posts on social media saying 35-year-old Warwick Tollemache will be “deeply missed”.
“Our family is heartbroken at the loss of our beloved Warwick,” Mandy Tollemache wrote.
“He was a kind, beautiful, and gentle soul who was adored by everyone who knew him.”
According to his social media, Mr Tollemache lived in Brisbane.
It came as the US Coast Guard confirmed it had taken the difficult decision to suspend the search for Mr Tollemache. He went overboard from the Quantum of the Seas on Tuesday night, local time, nearly two weeks after the cruise left Brisbane for its journey to the Hawaiian islands.
The incident happened in the Pacific Ocean about 800 kilometres south of Kailua-Kona, on the west coast of Oahu.
Discussions with Mr Tollemache’s next of kin and the Australian consulate, as well as relevant case information, helped inform the the decision, search and rescue mission coordinator Kevin Cooper said in a statement.
“The coast guard has made the difficult decision to suspend the active search for the passenger aboard the Quantum of the Seas,” he said.
The Royal Caribbean cruise ship deployed six life rings and stayed in the area for two hours before continuing on its way, with the coast guard taking over the search on Wednesday morning.
A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules aircrew completed five searches over the course of six hours while on scene.
Earlier reports suggested Mr Tollemache was believed to be the partner of someone who died earlier on board, following a medical emergency. That has since been denied.
The operation came as passengers left the cruise ship in Honolulu, where it docked after 15 days at sea.
One of those on board, Susan Whittington, said passengers were given little information about what had happened after they were woken at night by the ship shuddering to a halt.
“We were wondering what was going on and it was followed by an announcement over the intercom saying that a passenger had gone overboard,” she told Nine’s Today program.
“You couldn’t really see much, just the lights searching the area, but then it was very late at night.
“It was almost impossible to see anything in the water, so we didn’t hold hope for there being an outcome from it. It was quite distressing and there weren’t a lot of details after that.”
A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean said crews are working with local authorities.
-AAP
