A crew member went overboard from a Viking cruise ship in the Mediterranean.

The incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 27, according to the cruise line. "The ship’s emergency response was immediately activated, and an extensive search operation was launched, in coordination with the Italian Coast Guard," Viking said in an emailed statement.

The Italian Coast Guard said in an email that it received a report "of a crew member falling overboard" from Viking Star while the ship was about 100 nautical miles southeast of the Calabria coast. The vessel was between stops in the Greek island of Crete and Sicily in Italy at the time, according to CruiseMapper.

Search and rescue operations are ongoing.

Authorities released Viking Star from search efforts on Monday evening and the ship continued on its voyage. "We are deeply saddened by what has occurred," the cruise line said. "Our thoughts are with the family of our crew member, and we will continue to support them during this difficult time."

The company declined to share additional specifics, citing the privacy of the crew member and their family. The cruise line added that it "will provide updates when they become available and appropriate."

Viking did not immediately respond to an additional question about whether the ship is equipped with an overboard detection system. The technology is aimed at cutting down response times by notifying the crew when someone goes overboard.

There were 212 overboard incidents involving passengers and crew around the world from 2009 to 2019, according to statistics compiled for Cruise Lines International Association by consulting firm G.P. Wild (International) Limited and reviewed by USA TODAY. Only 48 people were rescued.

"I'll stress that people don't just fall over the side," Brian Salerno, then CLIA’s senior vice president of global maritime policy, told USA TODAY in 2023. "There are railings and they're pretty high. It's almost always the result of an intentional act."

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Viking crew member goes overboard during Mediterranean cruise

Reporting by Nathan Diller, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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