A woman has died after falling overboard from a cruise ship on its way to Southampton, before being scheduled to visit Falmouth later this month. 

French search and rescue as well as charity Channel Island Air Search rushed to search for the woman, who went overboard from MSC Virtuosa while the ship was sailing towards Southampton in the early hours of this morning (Saturday).

Rescuers scoured the English Channel near Les Casquets, near the island of Alderney, at around 2am on Saturday.

Her body was later recovered.

Police forces from the UK and France, including Hampshire Constabulary, as well as the National Crime Agency, are now involved in the investigation.

A French Navy helicopter searches the English ChannelA French Navy helicopter searches the English Channel (Image: Channel Island Air Search)

The ship, which is currently docked in Southampton, arrived into port at around 8.30am on Saturday, two hours and 15 minutes later than scheduled, according to ABP's shipping movements page.

In a statement a spokesperson for MSC Cruises said: "A guest on board MSC Virtuosa went overboard on 12 October, while the ship was sailing to Southampton. The body was later recovered with the involvement of the authorities.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic event, and our thoughts are with the family during this difficult time. Out of respect for their privacy, we will not be providing further details."

Passengers reported that alarms were raised on board just before 1am, with the ship later letting off "three loud blasts".

One cruise passenger told the Mirror: "The ship let off loud blasts, I thought the ship was in trouble, then the captain announced 'man overboard, man overboard, port side' the ship slowed down and they had spotlights into the sea looking for him."

Virtuosa, which regularly visits Southampton, departed from Cartagena in Spain on Tuesday, bound for Southampton.

Writing on Facebook, a spokesperson for Channel Island Air Search said: “Channel Islands Air Search were called out early this morning and requested to assist Jobourg MRCC in the search for a person overboard from the MSC Virtuosa cruise ship, north of Les Casquets.

“Lions' Pride departed from Guernsey at 02:00am and set course for the search area.

“The French navy helicopter Rescue Beligou Yankee was also in attendance.

“Arriving on scene at 2:21am, a search was commenced using the Wescam infra-red camera. 

“At 2:33am Jobourg MRCC reported that the casualty had been located by Beligou Yankee approximately 1.5 nautical miles north of Lions' Pride and winching operations were in progress.

“Having observed the completion of the winching operation, Lions' Pride was stood down and returned to Guernsey, landing at 0300hrs.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary added: “Officers from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary have been deployed to assist with enquiries relating to this incident.

“It has been reported that the woman went overboard the MSC Virtuosa during the early hours of this morning and subsequently died.

“The investigation is not being managed by UK authorities.”

Officers have attended the ship to "help with initial enquiries" before it is handed over to the relevant authority, the spokesperson added.

Virtuosa is due to leave Southampton bound for Cork at 8pm - it is as yet unconfirmed whether this will be delayed.

The mega cruise ship, which is185,000 tons, is scheduled to visit Falmouth on October 24, completing her series of ‘Northern Europe’ cruises in early November before sailing from Southampton for the West Indies.

The 331 metre long vessel aborted a call here earlier this year when weather conditions were unfavourable for a tendering operation in the bay.

With a passenger capacity of 6,340, the ship is one of the largest of her type in the world today, standing at number 19 in the top 30 ships.