Search Ends for Crew Member Missing from World Cruise

A search has been called off for a missing crew member from the UK-based Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambience ship. The vessel had left Lisbon, Portugal, sailing to Tilbury, England, on its final leg of a 120-night world cruise voyage.

Crew Member Likely Went Overboard Off Spain Coast

The crew member, Ison Dias, a 27-year-old Indian national from Goa, went overboard off the coast of western Spain. The ship then retraced its journey to assist in the search. The Spanish Coastguard later released it to continue its journey to the UK. The search has now been called off by the Coastguard without success.

The male crew member was reported missing after failing to arrive for his morning duty. The coastguard was alerted, and a “full and thorough” ship-wide search for the crew member was carried out.

According to reports, he was last seen on closed-circuit television in the early morning of May 3.

“Our immediate priority is to provide full support to all crew members closely affected by this incident. We are deeply saddened, and our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of our colleague,” a cruise line spokesperson said. “Ambassador is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all our crew and guests.”

The Ship’s Next Cruise Departure has been Impacted

The Ambiance has now returned to the UK. A celebration event to mark the completion of the world cruise has been scrapped, and the Sunday departure for the following ‘British Isles Discovery’ sailing has been delayed.

The world cruise itinerary departed on January 6 and visited South America, Africa, India, and Australia. Sailings on Ambassador Cruise Line’s two-ship fleet depart from London Tilbury and several UK regional ports.

The cruise line launched in 2022 and acquired a second ship, renamed Ambition, from Aida Cruises a year ago. It markets itself as a ‘premium value no-fly cruise line.’

This is the eighth man overboard for the cruise industry in 2024.