Police probing circumstances of Queen Mary 2 crew member’s disappearance

Halifax Regional Police say they will be conducting an investigation now that the Queen Mary 2 has returned to Halifax – its first stop since a crewmember went overboard off the coast of Newfoundland.

They said a search was conducted onboard the ship and when the man wasn’t found, search and rescue officials were asked to look for the man at sea.

One crew member told the Daily Telegraph: ‘He was crying and screaming that he wanted to throw himself off. None of his friends believed him or took him seriously.

Queen Mary 2 crew and passengers looking out into the fog for a crewman who went overboard.

The Halifax police force is the agency of jurisdiction because Halifax was the Queen Mary 2’s next scheduled port of call.

The crew woke on Saturday morning to at least four tannoy announcements asking for the chef to report for his shift.

The tweets suggest it took several hours from that time to return to the search area.

“There are now hundreds of passengers and crew members on Deck 7 and on the balconies keeping an eye out”, Binder tweeted.

“The ship is turning again”, he tweeted. A man has lost his life.

The Cunard-owned ship was on its way from Southampton to New York when the 26-year-old chef, named locally as Favio Onate Ordenes, disappeared on Saturday morning.

Cruise ships have long been known for the wild behaviour of off-duty staff, under the motto: “What happens in the Crew Bar, stays in the Crew Bar”, said Danielle Gauer, a former cruise ship dancer.