Newspapers in India are reporting that a thirty year old male Indian passenger disappeared in the Strait of Malacca from the SuperStar Gemini operated by Star Cruises.
Rajkumar Agarwal, from Calcutta, India, was cruising with his extended family who boarded the SuperStar Gemini on October 4th. He is the youngest of three brothers and was involved in the family’s business.
He was last seen around midnight on October 6th.
His family is complaining that the cruise line is keeping them in the dark regarding what happened.
Mr. Agarwal’s family did not know that he was missing from the ship until the next morning.
The captain of the cruise ship allegedly said that CCTV cameras recorded someone going overboard around 12.22 A.M. but refused to show the footage to the family.
The cruise ship apparently did not have an automatic man overboard system which would have automatically signaled the bridge that a person went overboard and into the water.
There apparently were not any type of search and rescue procedures initiated by the cruise line.
The Malaysian police and the cruise line are apparently claiming that Mr. Agarwal committed suicide. This is a usual defense quickly raised by a cruise line. The newspaper says that the police are theorizing that Mr. Agarwal may have "lost heavily" at the casino.
But a Calcutta newspaper says that family members describe Mr. Agarwal as "happy, cheerful" person with no history of suicide who "having a great time at the casino."
You can read additional information here.
The disappearance was first reported on Professor Ross Klein’s website.
In March of this year, a passenger went overboard from the Star Cruises SuperStar Libra. His body was later recovered.
Photo Credit: Facebook via Telegraph of India