A 64-year-old woman Reeta Sahani, on-board the “Spectrum of the Seas” cruise ship, was found missing as the ship traversed through the Strait of Singapore from Penang.
The Royal Caribbean cruise also hosted her husband, 70-year-old retiree, Jakesh Sahani.
Sometime during the Monday night, Jakesh Sahani had awoken in the middle of the night and had noted his wife’s absence in their shared cabin. After failing to scour the ship for his wife himself, he alerted the ship’s crew.
The crew allegedly informed him that there had been an unidentified object that was distinguished by the overboard detection systems to have fallen into the Singapore Strait.
Their son, 39-year-old Apoorv Sahani, who had not been present on the cruise during the incident, approached The Straits Times and stated:
“We have asked to see the CCTV footage, but, so far, we have not received anything yet for us to confirm that it was her. All we know is that the ship’s crew thinks she jumped in the water...She was on a holiday enjoying herself and then this whole thing happened. It does not make sense.”
He also divulged that his mother did not know how to swim. Both husband and son still believe that Reeta is present on the cruise ship,
After a few hours of Jakesh being interviewed by the police, no headway was made and he was told to disembark from the ship as another cruise was scheduled to commence, without any clarity on the whereabouts of his wife.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a statement on Monday night that the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Singapore was notified about the incident at about 7:50 am, and added that the passenger was on board the Spectrum of the Seas and fell overboard.
The MPA further said:
“MRCC Singapore is coordinating the search and immediately issued navigational safety broadcast to vessels in the Singapore Strait and vessels in port to keep a lookout for the missing person and report any sightings to MRCC Singapore.”
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