Passenger reported missing from Carnival Conquest

The Coast Guard is searching for a man who went overboard late Saturday near the end of a week long Caribbean cruise.

A passenger on the Carnival Conquest reported seeing the 42-year-old man fall from a balcony about 11 p.m. The luxury liner was about 110 miles nautical miles southeast of Sabine at the time, Coast Guard officials said.

"The ship's command immediately initiated search-and-rescue procedures and notified (the) U.S. Coast Guard,'' Carnival Cruise Lines officials said in a statement.

Carnival officials did not identify the man. Port of Galveston authorities could not be reached Sunday.

Coast Guard commanders launched rescue helicopters from bases in New Orleans, Houston, Corpus Christi and Mobile, Ala.

"All of them conducted multiple searches,'' Coast Guard Petty Officer Adam Eggers said.

The Coast Guard Cutter Heron, an 87-foot patrol boat based in Sabine Pass, has joined the search effort, Eggers said. The cruise ship spent several hours in the area after the man was reported missing.

"They turned the ship around to get all the lights on this one particular area,'' said Houston Chronicle reporter Syd Kearney, a passenger on the Conquest.

According to the company's website, 556 staterooms on the Conquest have private balconies.

Soon after the man was reported missing, the ship's officials announced to the other passengers that they would be returning to the site to begin the search....