72-year-old believed to have gone overboard before Princess Cruises ship docked in SF: officials

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A 72-year-old man is believed to have gone overboard on a Princess Cruises ship ahead of its arrival in San Francisco Monday, according to company officials.

They say the Ruby Princess docked around 6:50 a.m. where crews searched the ship thoroughly and extensively reviewed security footage without success.

Officials say they have ruled out other possibilities and are treating this situation as a man overboard incident.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection has taken over the investigation and Princess Cruise officials say they are fully cooperating with authorities.

The Ruby Princess was returning from a five-day trip to Ensenada that departed on Nov 27.

Company officials say the ship's next voyage will be a 16-day trip to the Hawaiian Islands which departs Monday evening.

As of about 5:40 p.m., the man had not been located and the Coast Guard was in active discussions to suspend the search unless new information was received, according to Coast Guard spokesperson Loumania Stewart.

The first air crew was dispatched from Sacramento aboard a C-27 aircraft at about 3 p.m. to search an area about 45 miles off the coast of Monterey.

Another Coast Guard crew was sent from San Francisco aboard a helicopter at about 4 p.m., Stewart said.

Bay City News Service contributed to this article.