Guam - A recovery effort is underway by the U.S. Navy after a merchant marine fell overboard off a ship operating off the coast of Guam. The vessel was identified as the maritime prepositioning force ship the USNS Major Stephen W. Pless.

The incident occurred last night and this afternoon the body was located but due to the sea state rescue officials were not able to recover the victim, those efforts however are still ongoing.   The vessel is crewed by 26 merchant mariners working for waterman steamship corporation, which is a private company contracted under the military sealift command.

An investigation into the incident is underway.