The Coast Guard on Wednesday was searching for a cruise ship passenger from Australia about 500 miles south of Kailua-Kona.
A Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point C-130 Hercules aircrew launched at 7 a.m. and arrived on scene at approximately 9 a.m. to begin searching.
Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu received a report from the cruise ship Quantum of the Seas of a man overboard at 11:03 p.m. Tuesday evening. The crew of the cruise ship remained on scene to search for approximately two hours, deploying six life rings.
After six hours on scene, the Coast Guard crew returned to Air Station Barbers Point for fuel replenishment. The search will resume at first light this morning.
The cruise ship has been at sea for 15 days and is expected to dock in Honolulu on Friday.