The passenger who fell overboard from the world’s largest cruise ship on Tuesday was identified by his family as 19-year-old Sigmund Ropich.
He fell overboard on Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas off the coast of Cuba during a seven-day cruise that departed from Port Canaveral, Florida, according to U.S. officials and a company spokesman.
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the ship’s crew immediately began searching for the missing person and was cooperating with local authorities.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The person who fell overboard was identified as 19-year-old Sigmund Ropich, a family member told Fox News Digital.
Search underway after passenger falls overboard on world’s largest cruise ship
The person who fell overboard was identified as 19-year-old Sigmund Ropich, a family member told Fox News Digital. (Savannah Ropich)
Savannah Ropich told Fox News Digital that she is in contact with the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, which is working with the Cuban Embassy.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Ropich said Cuban officials were no longer searching at sea but had shifted the search to the coast and land.
A Coast Guard spokesman told Fox News Digital that the incident occurred over Cuban territorial waters and it is not conducting search and rescue operations.
Because the teenager is a U.S. citizen, the Coast Guard will meet the cruise ship when it returns to the country to conduct an investigation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Royal Caribbean cruise passenger who ‘couldn’t swim’ falls overboard in Singapore Strait
The cruise ship Wonder of the Seas arrives at the French Mediterranean port of Marseille. (Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Ropich said her brother was on vacation with his best friends, his co-worker and the co-worker’s family on the cruise.
“Sig is a great boy. He never gets into trouble and has never caused trouble. Very intelligent, got A’s in math/physics/government in high school without trying. He is also a student and also works. He is a friendly, “a reserved and humble child who also loves making people laugh,” she said. “I always call him the ‘cool, calm and collected’ brother.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
The Wonder of the Seas cruise ship seen from one of the hills of the city of Cartagena on November 2, 2022. (Loyola Perez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Video shared by cruise passengers on TikTok shows a rescue boat near the cruise ship trying to locate the passenger who fell overboard.
“We actually have a report that a man fell overboard. We slowed the ship down. We turned around and are heading back to the position we had at that point. We’re going to launch a search and rescue operation,” an employee I heard say over the cruise’s PA system.