Search continues for missing ferry passenger | UPDATE

The search is continuing in the waters off Clinton for a missing passenger from the ferry M/V Cathlamet, Coast Guard officials said early Monday.

The search is continuing in the waters off Clinton for a missing passenger from the ferry M/V Cathlamet, Coast Guard officials said early Monday.

A person went overboard from the Cathlamet while it was approaching Clinton late Sunday night, sometime before 11 p.m., and Coast Guard vessels and aircraft were called to the scene from Seattle and Port Angeles to look for the missing traveler. Fire departments from South Whidbey and Camano Island also responded.

The search has been unsuccessful so far.

“People have searched all night. We are still searching,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric Chandler.

An MH-65C Dolphin helicopter from the Coast Guard’s Air Station Port Angeles was used overnight to look for the missing person, and Chandler said the aircraft returned to Port Angeles when the fog set in.

The helicopter is expected to return this morning when weather conditions improve.

A 45-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Seattle was also used in the search, and also returned to its home base when visibility became poor overnight. The Seattle crew was relieved by the Coast Guard Cutter Wahoo, a coastal patrol boat homeported in Port Angeles, which arrived in the waters off Whidbey Island at approximately 3 a.m. Monday.

Chandler said the search was not suspended overnight, and that personnel have remained on-scene to continue the operation.

The search will continue Monday, he said.