The devastated family of a Queensland man lost at sea on a Hawaii-bound cruise has remembered him as a kind and gentle soul after search efforts were called off.
Brisbane man Warwick Tollemache, 35, disappeared from the Quantum of the Seas liner hundreds of kilometres south of the Hawaiian islands on Wednesday night, Australian time.
The US Coast Guard on Friday suspended the aerial and marine search after finding no trace of Mr Tollemache and discussing his chances of survival with his family.
“Our family is heartbroken at the loss of our beloved Warwick,” Mandy Tollemache wrote on social media.
“He was a kind, beautiful, and gentle soul who was adored by everyone who knew him. He will be deeply missed.”
Mr Tollemache’s girlfriend Celine La Roche paid tribute earlier this week, posting a photo alongside the words “I love you, always have and always will. RIP my love” on Facebook.
Ms La Roche said she did not understand why the search had been called off.
“They should have kept looking – I don’t understand why they stopped the search,” she told the Courier Mail on Friday.
“I’m just devastated.”
She had held out hope he was alive and uninjured.
“I was still hoping until I heard they’d stopped the search and now … he could still be alive in the middle of nowhere.”
Discussions with Mr Tollemache’s next of kin and the Australian consulate, as well as relevant case information, helped inform 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 incident happened in the Pacific Ocean about 800km south of Kailua-Kona, on the west coast of Hawaii’s Big Island.
The 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.
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 said.
“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.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing assistance to Mr Tollemache’s family.
AAP has contacted cruise operator Royal Caribbean for comment.
© AAP 2023
