Indian woman who fell from Singapore cruise ship dies

The 64-year-old Indian woman who had gone missing after she fell overboard from a ship as it sailed through the Strait of Singapore from Penang, the northern island state of Peninsular Malaysia, has died, her son said on Wednesday.

Reeta Sahani and her husband Jakesh Sahani, 70, were on their way back to Singapore from Penang aboard the Spectrum of the Seas on Monday, which was also the last day of the couple's four-day cruise, when she fell off from the vessel into the Singapore Strait.

The woman's son Vivek Sahani in an Instagram post wrote, "... we have unfortunately learnt that my mother has passed away. Would request you guys to give us some privacy as we mourn her loss."

He also thanked the ministry of external affairs and its minister S Jaishankar, and the Indian high commission in Singapore "for helping us out in getting this closure".

"Ironically, today is also her birthday," Vivek said.

The high commission said it was in touch with the grieving family and is facilitating visas for the family members.

Earlier, in a series of tweets on Tuesday, the mission said it was in "constant touch with the Sahani family since the news of the unfortunate incident reached us". The high commission was also in close contact with Singaporean authorities to address related issues and is facilitating legal procedures.

The mission said that it had also reached out to the India head of the Royal Caribbean cruise company to extend all cooperation.

"We remain fully committed to supporting the family in this testing time," the high commission had said.

The Singapore Strait is a 113-km long and 19-km wide busy shipping route between the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea with Singapore on the north of the channel.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has deployed two patrol craft to help in the search in Singapore's waters, while 22 commercial vessels are also assisting in the search for the missing passenger, the Channel News Asia reported.

"Assets from Singapore's Police Coast Guard and the Republic of Singapore Navy are also keeping a lookout. The search and rescue area covers the stretch of Singapore port waters and the Singapore Strait," the MPA said.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Singapore is also coordinating the search and rescue operations with Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Badan Nasional Pencarian dan Pertolongan (BASARNAS), who have deployed three craft to assist in the efforts.

"MRCC Singapore continues to issue navigational safety broadcasts to vessels in the Singapore Strait to keep a lookout for the missing passenger," the MPA said.

Earlier, in a press release on Monday, the MPA said that at about 7:50 am on Monday, the MRCC was notified that a passenger onboard the Cyprus-flagged passenger vessel, Spectrum of the Seas, had fallen overboard in the Singapore Strait while en route into Singapore.

"MRCC Singapore is coordinating the search and immediately issued a 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," the release said.

The passenger vessel was berthed earlier in Singapore to support the investigation, and had departed Singapore at around 4.30 pm, the release said.