The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a 72-year-old American man believed to have fallen overboard from the Ruby Princess cruise ship. The ship, operated by Princess Cruises, was returning to San Francisco from a five-day voyage to Ensenada, Mexico. The man, who was traveling alone, was reported missing after the ship docked in San Francisco at 6:50 a.m. on Monday (December 2).
Despite multiple searches of the ship and a review of security footage, there was no sign of the man.
"Having ruled out other possibilities, this is being treated as a man overboard incident," Princess Cruises said in a statement.
The Coast Guard initiated aerial searches on Monday afternoon in the Pacific Ocean, about 45 miles off the coast of Monterey, California. The search was suspended around 5:30 p.m. "pending any new developments," Coast Guard Petty Officer Loumania Stewart said. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is investigating the disappearance.
The Ruby Princess left San Francisco again on Monday evening for a 16-day voyage to the Hawaiian Islands.