Passenger missing after falling from cruise ship

A passenger of Tallink cruise ship remained missing after falling from the vessel on Wednesday afternoon, Finnish Coastguard and the ship authority said.

The incident took place at the vessel Victoria 1 at about 3:05p.m., just 25 minutes before of its arrival at Helsinki Port from Tallinn, Estonia.

Finnish Coastguard conducted search in the sea after the incident but failed to recover the passenger.

“The search for a person who fell into the sea from the Victoria 1 vessel has been concluded near Ulkomatala, Helsinki. Despite the search, the person was not found,” Finnish Coastguard wrote in a post on its social media platform X on Wednesday evening.

A Navy vessel, several cargo ships, Border Guard's maritime rescue helicopter and patrol boat Turva participated in the search operation, said the Coast Guard.

Marika Nöjd, Communications Director of Tallink Silja said that the crew of the vessel was informed by passengers at about 16:15 about the incident.

“A member of a group had gone outside earlier to smoke and had not returned. The passenger could not be found, and surveillance cameras revealed that the male passenger had climbed over the railing and jumped into the sea at 15:05,” Nöjd told Daily Finland on Thursday.

The crew immediately alerted maritime rescue, which took control of the situation and initiated search operations, she added.