Couple suffer lonley deaths after man jumped off ship to save fiancee (Photos)

The death of a newly engaged couple has been blamed on the woman who fell to her death off a cruise ship ..It was revealed that,she may have been trying to make a dramatic gesture to 'alarm and test' her fiance,by falling overboard..

Kristen Schroder, 27, slipped from a fifth-level balcony on the Carnival Spirit cruise ship off the coast of NSW ,after climbing over the hand rail.Her 30-year-old partner, Paul Rossington, jumped nearly 20 metres into the Tasman Sea moments after in a bid to rescue her.

The couple's bodies were never found and an inquest into the newly engaged couple's deaths was told there was little chance either survived for more than a few hours in the water.Deputy state coroner Hugh Dillon handed down his findings on Tuesday.

'The deaths of Kristen and Paul are even more distressing than most because of the loneliness of their deaths in a dark ocean, and because they had gone on the cruise in the hope of restoring and reinforcing their relationship,' he said.'Paradoxically, what they had struggled to to achieve in life - loving unity - they perhaps managed in their last actions alive.'

The holiday was believed to have been a 'make-or-break' situation for the couple's 10-month relationship.

Why Kristen stepped over the railing of the cabin is not known. There is no suggestion that she felt threatened by Paul. It seems improbable that she was intending to end her own life,' Mr Dillon said.

'The most likely explanation is that Kristen, being unafraid of heights, was making a dramatic gesture to alarm and test Paul.'

CCTV footage capturing the final moments of the couple was played at the inquest, including what appeared to be a fight in the ship's casino hours before their deaths on May 8.

Infared footage from later that night captured a figure, believed to be Ms Schroder, climbing over the balcony of their cabin about 9pm before slipping, hanging on for four seconds and then falling.

Ms Schroder plunged more than six metres before she struck level three of the ship and plummeted a further 12.6 metres into the ocean.

Seconds later, Mr Rossington can be seen diving overboard..Their disappearance wasn't noticed until 10am the following day when they failed to disembark in Sydney with Ms Schroder's family.

Culled from Daily Mail Uk