A British pensioner is missing and feared to have fallen overboard from an Atlantic cruise.

The alarm was raised on board the Tui’s Marella Voyager cruise ship after the 72-year-old was spotted missing.

She is believed to have fallen off the cruise liner in the middle of the Atlantic, but the tragedy was not noticed until hundreds of miles later.

The woman was last seen on board late on Monday afternoon, the Daily Mail reports.

Marella Voyager, carrying 2,000 passengers, set sail from Malaga in Spain last Wednesday and headed to the Caribbean.

But the over a week-long cruise took a turn after a cabin steward noticed the woman’s bed hadn’t been slept in the previous night.

By the time of the discovery, the cruise had sailed for around 550 miles from the estimated location of her fall and it was unable to turn around, it is understood.

The US Coast Guard’s rescue coordination centre in Virginia has urged other vessels in the area to look out for her.

At about 7.30pm on Tuesday, a woman passenger was asked to report to the reception.

Another announcement followed at 9pm, requesting all passengers to gather at the muster stations so that crew could scan every boarding pass for a full headcount.

One crew member is said to have told a guest that ‘unfortunately we do have a missing person.’

The ship’s captain, Silviu Mitrea, made the heartbreaking announcement the following day, confirming that the woman was still missing and thanking guests for gathering for the headcount.

Passengers have claimed that the cruise was rocked by a powerful storm, which allegedly left guests and crew seasick on the voyage to Antigua.

However, Tui said there is nothing to suggest that the weather was a factor in the disappearance.

The company confirmed that a cabin steward raised the alarm ‘after noticing the guest’s bed hadn’t been slept in.’

‘A full search of the ship then took place, and it was reported to the authorities,’ Tui said.

The holiday operator said in a statement: ‘We’re deeply saddened to confirm that a guest was reported missing on board Marella Voyager while the ship was crossing the Atlantic.

‘As soon as the alarm was raised, the crew carried out a full search of the ship and we contacted the relevant authorities straight away. Our thoughts are with the guest’s loved ones at this very difficult time.’

Metro has approached the Foreign Office for a comment.

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