The United States Coast Guard has recently suspended its search for a man who plunged from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship into choppy Atlantic Ocean waters on Saturday. Crews searched more than 930 nautical miles off the coast of Mayaguana in the Bahamas for 35-year-old Brazilian national Bernardo Albaz–to no avail.
According to NBC News, Albaz “was spotted by Oasis of the Seas crew members intentionally going over the side of the ship” at around 1 am en route to Fort Lauderdale.
The Sun Sentinel claims that a video of the incident was posted on YouTube but immediately taken down that shows passengers pleading with the man as he dangled from a life boat on the side of the ship.
“Let go of me!” he shouted. “You don’t touch me!”
A crowd of bystanders watched as he continued talking to someone on board, “Because of you, this happened. … I’m not going anywhere. … Let go of me! Get off of me!”
Albaz’s lawyer, Mike Winkleman, claims Bernardo became angry with a ship staff member for saying ‘Hi, lipstick,’ an apparent mockery of his perceived homosexuality.
Winkleman released a statement, per LADbible:
“Bernardo ended up getting in a huge altercation and ended up in his cabin where he was furious and ultimately Royal Caribbean security came to the scene. As a result of the altercation in his cabin Bernardo falls off his balcony onto the life boat area.”
Royal Caribbean since released a statement challenging Winkleman’s statement:
“Our staff did not have a physical altercation with the guest and were unable to prevent his jumping from the stateroom balcony. Royal Caribbean is deeply saddened by this event. We will continue to provide assistance to the family as well as law enforcement.”
Regardless of ultimately trivial details, the odds that Bernardo Albaz will be discovered are bleak.
Check out the tense footage below where Albaz can be heard hollering at an assumed staff member before plummeting into the water.
[h/t NBC News]
WATCH: Giant Iceberg Breaks From Glacier And Sinks Into Ocean