TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The body of a 41-year-old Taiwanese woman was recovered from the ocean after she fell from a cruise ship during a trip to Okinawa, reports said Friday (August 9).
It was not immediately known whether the incident was related to Typhoon Lekima, which was barreling through the ocean between Taiwan and Japan at the time.
The “Sun Princess,” part of the Princess Cruises fleet managed by Great Britain’s Carnival PLC, was on a five-day journey from Keelung to Okinawa and due back in a Taiwanese harbor on Sunday (August 11), the Central News Agency reported.
The woman was first discovered missing at 6 a.m. Japanese time Friday, triggering a full-scale search which turned up camera footage of her falling overboard.
The ship adjusted its course and sent out a rescue team, which found the missing woman at 7:13 a.m. However, she showed no signs of life and the medical team on board declared her dead, CNA reported.
Princess Cruises expressed regrets and thanked the Japanese Coast Guard for its assistance in the search. The ship will continue on its course to Okinawa before arriving home as scheduled in Keelung on August 11.