Search underway for man overboard on cruise ship hundreds of miles away from Hawaii

The United States Coast Guard is searching for a cruise ship passenger from Australia who went overboard a few hundred miles off the coast of Hawaii.

The incident occurred at approximately 11:03 p.m. on Tuesday night when the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu received a report from the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship that a man had gone overboard about 500 miles south of Kailua Kona, Big Island, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

“The crew of the cruise ship remained on scene to search for approximately two hours, deploying six life rings,” the Coast Guard said in a statement on Wednesday. “After six hours on scene, the crew returned to Air Station Barbers Point for fuel replenishment. The search will resume at first light Thursday morning.”

A Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point C-130 Hercules aircrew launched at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning and arrived on scene at approximately 9:00 a.m. to begin searching but authorities have not yet had any luck on finding the missing man.

Quantum of the Seas departed from Brisbane, Australia, on April 12 and is scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on April 28.

Royal Caribbean -- who operates Quantum of the Seas -- also released a statement on Wednesday confirming that the search for the missing man is ongoing.

“While on its trans-pacific sailing, a guest onboard Quantum of the Seas went overboard,” Royal Caribbean said. “The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities.”

Authorities did not give any further details on how the man may have ended up going overboard but the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

ABC News' Clara McMichael contributed to this report,