Coast Guard suspends search for ship’s crew member reported overboard off Southern California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Searchers were unable to find a crew member who fell off a cargo ship in the ocean off Southern California, the Coast Guard said.

The search lasted nearly 15 hours before it was suspended Tuesday evening, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

A bulk cargo carrier reported the sailor overboard around 5 a.m. about 14 miles (23 kilometers) southwest of Point Conception as the vessel was transiting the Santa Barbara Channel en route to the Port of Long Beach, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard broadcast an alert to vessels in the area and sent a helicopter, a small boat and a cutter to conduct the search.

“The decision to suspend an active search is never easy and is only made after exhaustive efforts to find the missing person,” said Chief Warrant Officer John Rose, the search coordinator at Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach.