A body has been recovered following the MS Ambition overboard search launched after a passenger was reported missing from the cruise ship as it sailed towards Dundee on Friday 21 August. Cruise Mummy reports that formal identification is yet to take place, but the family of the missing man has been informed.
Ambassador Cruise Line said the captain of the MS Ambition raised the alarm after the man was reported missing before the vessel arrived in Dundee from Lerwick. The alarm was raised onboard at about 08:35, with the ship at that point roughly 36 nautical miles from Arbroath.
Coastguard report and MS Ambition overboard search response
Coastguard teams received a report at around 8:55am on Friday that a man had gone overboard from a cruise ship in the North Sea, 40 nautical miles from Anstruther, Fife, according to Cruise Mummy. Lifeboats, coastguard crews and aerial support were dispatched as part of the response.
Coastguard aircraft from as far afield as Prestwick and Carlisle were scrambled to assist, alongside a commercial search and rescue helicopter. Lifeboat crews from Anstruther and Broughty Ferry and coastguard rescue teams from Dundee, Arbroath and St Andrews also took part, supported by nearby vessels.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said the man’s next of kin were aware and inquiries were ongoing.
Final day of 13-night voyage when alarm was raised
According to Cruise Law News, the Ambition was on the final day of a 13-night Iceland cruise when the man was reported overboard. The voyage had departed Dundee on 8 August, taking in Shetland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands before the return leg.
BBC Scotland News reported that the passenger’s luggage was still onboard and his bed had not been slept in. One passenger said that tannoy announcements had repeatedly called the name of a specific passenger on Friday morning, before those onboard were told a passenger was missing.
Passengers were initially delayed from disembarking after the ship docked in Dundee. They were eventually permitted to leave at about 11:30.
Ambassador and port authority response
Ambassador said it was following ‘stringent search and rescue protocols’ and was working with the coastguard and police. A spokesperson added: ‘Ambassador remains committed to the safety and wellbeing of all our guests and crew.’
Forth Ports, which manages the Port of Dundee, said it had been informed of ‘an issue on board the Ambition cruise ship while at sea’, adding that the vessel was berthed in Dundee and that it was liaising with the ship and its owner.
The MS Ambition was previously chartered by the Scottish government to provide temporary housing for Ukrainian refugees on the River Clyde.
Police Scotland confirmed inquiries remain ongoing. Formal identification of the body recovered during the MS Ambition overboard search has not yet taken place.
