Cruise Ship Completes Trip, Learns Passenger Is Missing

Search suspended for 72-year-old man who is presumed to have gone overboard
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 3, 2024 12:20 PM CST
American Man Missing as Cruise Ship Docks
The Ruby Princess is docked in San Francisco in 2021.   (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

The US Coast Guard has suspended the search for a man believed to have gone overboard from a cruise ship as it was returning to San Francisco after a voyage to Ensenada, Mexico. The Ruby Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, arrived in San Francisco at 6:50am Monday following the five-day trip. Officials searched the ship several times for the missing passenger, according to a statement released by the cruise line, per the AP. They also scoured security videos, but there was no sign of the man, a 72-year-old American citizen traveling alone, the statement says.

"Having ruled out other possibilities, this is being treated as a man overboard incident," Princess Cruises said. The Coast Guard began aerial searches Monday afternoon in the Pacific Ocean about 45 miles off the coast of Monterey, California. The effort was suspended around 5:30pm "pending any new developments," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Loumania Stewart Tuesday morning. US Customs and Border Protection was investigating the disappearance. The Ruby Princess left San Francisco again Monday evening for a 16-day voyage to the Hawaiian Islands.

(More cruise ships stories.)

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