An Australian man has tragically gone missing and is presumed dead after an incident aboard a Disney Cruise Line ship. The unfortunate event unfolded on November 22, as the Disney Wonder was making its journey from Melbourne, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, according to reports from the local media outlet, 7NEWS.
Victoria Police have revealed that the incident occurred when the man reportedly jumped from the cruise liner into the waters of the Tasman Sea around 4:30 a.m. The missing passenger, identified as a 73-year-old from Moonee Ponds, a suburb of Melbourne, has not been named publicly by authorities.
The police spokesperson indicated that a report for the coroner is being prepared, and the circumstances surrounding the man’s death are not considered suspicious.
In response to the emergency, the Disney Wonder retraced its path in the Tasman Sea, spending approximately five hours combing the waters in hopes of locating the man. Despite extensive efforts, the search was ultimately unsuccessful.
The spokesperson shared that authorities are preparing a report for the coroner and are not treating the man’s death as suspicious.
According to 7NEWS, the Disney Wonder reversed course in the Tasman Sea to try to find the overboard man, circling the waters for roughly five hours on the day of his disappearance.
One passenger told the outlet that the ship’s crew members were “manning the decks and scanning the water with thermal imaging cameras” in hopes of finding the missing man. However, their efforts came up short.
“The captain came on and updated the boat and basically stated that there was someone, a passenger had fallen overboard … [but] that they were unable to find them,” another passenger, Mitch Talbot, told 7 News. “It was quite somber and it was just a bit eerie for the rest of the day.”
Oxygen has reached out to Disney Cruise Line for comment on the incident.
The man’s disappearance comes weeks after a separate cruise ship tragedy gained international attention: the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner.
The high school student was found dead on Nov. 7 while traveling aboard a Carnival Cruise ship on a six-day sail in the Caribbean.
The cruise line previously told Oxygen in a statement, “Carnival Cruise Line is fully cooperating with the Miami office of the FBI in the investigation of the death of a guest traveling on Carnival Horizon last week.”
