Carnival Cruise Passenger Missing; Coast Guard Searching Florida Waters

• A Carnival cruise passenger is missing after he was last seen before the ship docked in Miami.
• Miami-Dade police told Insider that Kevin McGrath, 26, was last seen by his brother in his cabin.
• Coast Guard officials are still searching the Port of Miami and South Florida waters.

Coast Guard officials are searching Florida waters after a Carnival cruise passenger disappeared shortly before the ship returned to PortMiami this week.

Miami-Dade Police Department identified the missing man as Kevin McGrath, 26. A spokesperson with the department told Insider that McGrath was last seen by his brother at approximately 2 a.m. on Monday morning in his cabin.

McGrath was supposed to meet his family for breakfast ahead of the ship’s return to port but he never arrived for the meal, authorities said.

He was reported missing at approximately 7 a.m on Monday, a spokesperson with the cruise line told Insider.

The missing person’s report came right as passengers were beginning to disembark in PortMiami following the the four-day Bahamas venture, the cruise line said.

Carnival crew conducted an “extensive” search on board the ship but failed to find McGrath. Miami-Dade police then boarded the ship to investigate. McGrath was not detected by any of the ship’s surveillance systems, including security cameras and US Customs and Border Patrol during the debarkation process.

Authorities said the ship’s cameras and security devices don’t indicate that McGrath went overboard.

A spokesperson with the US Coast Guard told Insider that air and surface crews are still actively searching for McGrath near Port Miami and along the South Florida shore.

Miami-Dade police eventually cleared the Carnival Conquest to set sail again. The ship is currently located in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean on its way to the Bahamas, cruise tracking data shows.

The incident comes just one week after a 19-year-old college student went overboard the largest operational cruise ship in the world, the Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas. Authorities have conducted a lengthy search for the missing man, but he has yet to be found.

A 2020 study from the industry trade group Cruise Lines International Association found that 19 people go overboard cruise ships each year on average. At least six people have gone overboard in the last three months, promoting debate over whether cruise ships should be required to install man-overboard detection systems.