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

P&O cruise ship Pacific Dawn spent the night searching for a woman who went overboard near New Caledonia in rough seas, but by Friday morning the search had been called off.

The ship spent the night circling through rough seas searching for the woman who was seen falling overboard at 4pm on Thursday, about 300 kilometres west of New Caledonia.

Passengers on the cruise reportedly said the woman was on a holiday with her husband and young children.

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

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&0 said such speculation was "not supported by facts". Out of respect for the woman's family, they refused to elaborate at the time.

Jonathan Trevithick, who was also on the ship, posted an image on Twitter of a ring buoy floating in the ocean and said the situation was "horrendous".

A passenger, who requested not to be named, described the atmosphere on the ship as "very sad, solemn and quiet", while another said the staff went "above and beyond" to try and locate her

But on Friday morning, Carnival Australia spokesman David Jones confirmed that the desperate search had been unsuccessful.

"With the deepest sadness, P&O Cruises has confirmed the suspension of Pacific Dawn's search," Carnival Australia spokesman David Jones said in a statement.

"The difficult decision to suspend the search was made only after expert advice that survival after this length of time in difficult sea conditions and after a full night at sea was not considered possible.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the guest's family at this distressing time."

Mr Jones said earlier that a crew member notified the bridge straight away when the woman fell and the 'man overboard' incident response was activated immediately.

"In line with this response, Pacific Dawn turned around to follow the course it was on at the time of the incident."

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

Pacific Dawn is due in Brisbane on Saturday, where Queensland Police are expected to board the ship.

Yahoo7 News has contacted Carnival Cruises, who said they could not confirm witness reports.