PORT CANAVERAL -- The man who fell overboard while working on a Carnival cruise ship has been identified as Antonio Matabang, 26, of California.
The Coast Guard called off the search for Matabang Friday. See Previous Story.
Matabang was working on the Carnival Sensation cruise ship during the early morning hours of the new year.
Six other employees saw Matabang fall overboard, according to the Coast Guard.
Officials said Matabang, a member of the ship's entertainment staff, fell over 80 feet to the waters below.
A life buoy was tossed in, but Matabang did not appear to get to it.
Hope for finding Matabang alive continues to fade.
"We were ready to respond, and that's why we felt so confident we were going to find this individual," said Public Affairs Specialist 2nd Class James Harless, with the Coast Guard in Jacksonville. "We already had an aircraft in the air by the time he fell overboard. When we couldn't find him intially, that made us worry that we weren't going to be able to find this guy."
Coast Guard ships and helicopters covered an area more than 3,000 square miles, but turned up nothing.
A Carnival representative said the cruise line does not plan on releasing any more statements on the search for Matabang.
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