SYDNEY (AP) - Police late Friday ended the ocean search for two cruise ship passengers lost overboard two days earlier off eastern Australian.

Aircraft and ships that covered 4,670 square kilometers (1,360 square nautical miles) of ocean during the search north of Sydney did not find any sign of the Australian couple, New South Wales state police said in a statement.

Paramedic Paul Rossington, 30, and his 26-year-old girlfriend Kristen Schroder were discovered missing Thursday morning after the Carnival Spirit docked at Sydney's Circular Quay at the end of a 10-day South Pacific cruise. The search began within hours.

Surveillance camera footage showed the couple was outside their cabin when they fell more than 20 meters (65 feet) from the ship's mid deck Wednesday night, Police Superintendent Mark Hutchings said. At the time, the ship was about 120 kilometers (65 nautical miles) off the coast of Forster, a city 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Sydney.

Carnival Spirit is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator. Carnival Corp.'s representative in the South Pacific region, Ann Sherry, chief executive of Carnival Australia, said safety was paramount for the company, noting that the railing over which the couple fell was 5 centimeters (2 inches) higher than industry safety regulations mandate.

The apparent tragedy is the latest high-profile problem for Carnival Corp.



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