What seems to be an all too frequent headline in recent times befell P&O Cruises’ Ventura in the early hours of 10th October when a man was believed to have fallen from the ship at around 0430 some 20 miles from the coast of the Isle of Wight whilst inbound from the Mediterranean to Southampton.

The P&O ship retraced her route for several hours to aid the search that was undertaken by air and sea by the RNLI, coastguard and other vessels which were carried out for almost 12 hours. The Ventura arrived at her homeport at 1230 that day instead of the scheduled 0700. Vessels in the area were asked to maintain a look out for the missing man.