Police to investigate missing woman's cruise ship fall

Queensland Police Service have opened an investigation into how a woman fell from a P&O cruise ship.

The woman, 47, fell from the Pacific Dawn about 4pm on Thursday about 300 kilometres west of New Caledonia during a week-long cruise in the Pacific.

The captain of the cruise ship announced to passengers on Friday a woman had not been found and the ship was heading back to Brisbane.

Passengers said the woman's husband saw her fall and went into shock.

Life rings were immediately thrown into the water, but there was no sign of her, The Courier-Mail previously reported.

She was believed to have been on holiday with her husband and children.

• 'Worst thing I've seen on a cruise': Witnesses recalls overboard tragedy on P&O ship

• 'He tried to catch her': Woman fell overboard off cruise ship in front of husband

QPS said while there were no suspicious circumstances identified so far, it would investigate the incident and would meet the Pacific Dawn when it arrived at the Port of Brisbane on Sunday morning.

A search began immediately after the woman fell and continued through the night, with rough conditions hampering efforts.

It was officially called off on Friday at 7.30am.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I need to let you know that we have been unable to locate our guest," the Pacific Dawn captain told passengers on Friday morning.

"We are still in the area of the incident, and the weather conditions with the swell three to four metres high, as you can see outside, the strong wind made our search extremely challenging.

"As a result, we have now made the extremely difficult decision to continue our journey towards Brisbane.

"I know I speak on behalf of all of you when I say our thoughts and prayers are with the family."

A passenger on the cruise reportedly said the woman slipped in front of her husband.

“She leaned over and the ship rocked in heavy seas — her husband tried to catch her but she slipped,” a passenger said, according to News Corp.

Another passenger claimed the woman was battling sea sickness and had gone outside to vomit about 4pm on Thursday when she was reportedly knocked off the ship by a freak wave.

But in a statement issued to Yahoo7 News, P&O said such speculation was "not supported by facts". Out of respect for the woman's family, they refused to elaborate at the time.

Carnival Australia spokesman David Jones said a crew member notified the bridge as soon as the woman fell and the 'man overboard' incident response was activated immediately.

The ship was on a seven-night cruise from Brisbane to the South Pacific with scheduled calls to Noumea, Lifou and Port Vila.