An elderly American man who was traveling on his own aboard the Ruby Princess has been presumed dead after going overboard this week.
After an extensive search and rescue operation, the US Coast Guard (USCG) called off its search for the missing passenger.
Authorities believe that the 72-year-old man went overboard on Monday before the Princess Cruises-owned vessel docked in San Francisco at 6:50 a.m.
At the time, the Grand-class ship was returning from a 5-day roundtrip sailing to Ensenada, Mexico. It left the Golden City on November 27 and concluded its voyage on December 2.
Read More: What Happens During a Man Overboard
The cruise line informed CBS News, “Princess Cruises is saddened to report that a 72-year-old American male is believed to have gone overboard earlier today ahead of the arrival of Ruby Princess into San Francisco.”
A Princess Cruises representative added that a thorough onboard search had been conducted and the vessel’s CCTV footage had been reviewed.
Since these efforts were unsuccessful in locating him, the matter was treated as a man overboard incident. The exact time when the unidentified passenger went overboard remains unknown.
The US Coast Guard took over the search later that day, deploying at least one plane to comb the 45-mile area from Monterey to San Francisco Bay.
According to the cruise line, the US Customs and Border Protection is also investigating the incident. By 5:30 p.m., the USCG said it had called off the search for the missing man.
Ruby Princess’ next cruise, a 16-night itinerary to Hawaii, experienced some delay because of the search but it still managed to depart on the same day.
Last month, a separate man overboard incident led P&O Cruises Australia to face possible legal complications. A guest who racked up thousands of dollars in debt through Pacific Adventure’s shipboard casino jumped off the vessel.
Meanwhile, another Princess Cruises guest sailing on the Emerald Princess is believed to have gone overboard in August and was never found.
This is the 18th man overboard incident for the cruise industry in 2024.
