Man 'overboard' from Carnival Spirit cruise liner near Vanuatu

A search and rescue operation is under way near Vanuatu after a man on board a cruise ship went missing and was presumed to be lost overboard.

The man, believed to be a member of the kitchen crew, was aboard the Carnival Spirit cruise liner on a voyage between Vanuatu and Fiji.

Fairfax Media has confirmed the man is not an Australian national, contrary to some media reports.

A spokesperson for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said AMSA had been advised of the incident, but the location was outside Australia’s search and rescue region.

A passenger on the ship, who did not wish to be identified, told Fairfax Media an announcement was made about 9am local time that a crew member had gone missing. The vessel did not turn around until about 2pm, she said.

He could have been missing since the night before, when the cruise liner left Vanuatu, the passenger said.

"Several messages later, the captain announced we were going to turn the boat around to search for him."

Carnival Cruise Lines confirmed the vessel has turned back towards Vanuatu.

"We're deeply concerned to confirm that a valued member of the Carnival Spirit team is currently unaccounted for in spite of an extensive search of the ship earlier today," the company said in a statement.

The cruise liner contacted search authorities when the man could not be found.

The crew member went missing in what the spokesman describes as a New Caledonian search and rescue area.

A spokesman for the New Caledonian search and rescue authority said it would send a plane to assist in the search as soon as it became light on Wednesday morning. He added the boat was about 320 miles (515 kilometres) off the coast of Noumea towards Fiji.

The on-board source said only one spotlight, from the front of the boat, is being used to search for the missing man.

The ship is midway through a 12-night cruise. It was scheduled to spend Tuesday between Vanuatu and Fiji.

According to the on-board source, several announcements were also made in connection with a search for a passenger named Ryan Dicks. He was later found and turned out to be a missing child, the passenger said.

A letter to passengers from Captain Giuseppe Gazzano apologised for the interrupted voyage and said a care team had been engaged to support the missing man's family.