Man Overboard & Missing … 18 Year Old Bruce O’Krepki Goes Overboard on the Cruise Ship Carnival Fantasy

Not again? If its a cruise ship, then someone must have gone overboard, again. This time the incident happened aboard the Carnival Fantasy. At some point they are either going to have to put plexi-glass up around the perimeter of a ship like a Hockey Arena or a safety net around these ships.

18 year old Bruce O’Krepki has gone overboard on the cruise ship Carnival Fantasy Sunday night. O’Krepki is a recent high school graduate and was aboard the Carnival Fantasy with 35 other classmates. The US Coast Guard is searching for the missing 18 year old who went overboard about 150 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida.

Bruce O’Krepki went overboard from the Carnival Fantasy at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, about 150 miles southwest of Tampa, the Coast Guard said.

O’Krepki is from Hammond, La., where The Daily Star newspaper reported that he recently graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School. He was with about 35 classmates on the ship.

His uncle, Rick O’Krepki, said Monday afternoon that the family had no details about what happened.

“We are awaiting more word,” O’Krepki told the newspaper. “Hopefully, the brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard will be successful in searching for Bruce.”

Officials say he was on board the Carnival Cruise Ship Fantasy for a senior trip. Also according to reports, O’Krepki’s parents were chaperones on the trip.

Search continues overnight for Hammond teen lost from cruise ship

Coast Guard crews were called in about 15 minutes later, and a search plane and helicopter from Clearwater, Fla., and patrol boat from St. Petersburg scrambled to the scene, Petty Officer Rob Simpson said.

The cruise ship aided in the search until it was released by the Coast Guard about 2:30 a.m. to continue to Key West, Bello said.

The Coast Guard had not given up the search by Monday evening, almost 24 hours after O’Krepki went overboard, Simpson said.