Crewman lost in jump from cruise ship

LONDON, May 21 (UPI) -- A crewman jumped to his death from a luxury cruise liner in the English Channel, the shipping line said Saturday.

The 31-year-old Filipino, who was not identified, was seen on closed-circuit TV climbing over a railing and jumping from the Celebrity Eclipse around 10:15 p.m. Friday, Sky News reported.

The ship, owned by Celebrity Cruises, was about 8 miles north of Cherbourg, France, en route to Southampton, England, at the time. It was returning from a two-week Mediterranean cruise.

The liner was turned around and the French coast guard called in to find the man, to no avail.

A coast guard source told Sky News: "Unfortunately there was a man in the sea. We searched for him extensively, but we could not find him.

"We deployed our resources to find him, but it was to no avail and we can now presume that he is dead. The water was very cold and there is no hope for him."