An American man is believed to have gone "overboard" on a cruise ship ahead of its arrival in San Francisco.
The 72-year-old is believed to have gone overboard at approximately 6:50AM on Monday (December 1) while aboard The Ruby Princess as it returned from a 5-day round trip to Ensenada, Mexico.
The ship initially departed from San Francisco on November 27.
When the ship was returning to California, the male passenger could not be found. After an extensive search and review of the security footage, the disappearance was ruled as a man overboard situation.
In a statement released by Princess Cruises, the company confirmed the heartbreaking news.
"Princess Cruises is saddened to report that a 72-year-old American male is believed to have gone overboard earlier today ahead of the arrival of Ruby Princess into San Francisco," read the statement released by the cruise line, per CBS News.
In an additional statement to ABC News, Princess Cruises confirmed that the man was traveling alone.
According to the outlet, the U.S. Coast Guard was contacted at around noon and asked to conduct an air search for the man who went overboard.
One plane was dispatched from Sacramento aboard a C-27 aircraft to aid with the search, but it needed to refuel and didn't relaunch until just before 3:00PM.
Another Coast Guard crew was sent from San Francisco aboard a helicopter at about 4:00PM.
A spokesperson also told NBC News that they paired up with local authorities in order to search for the missing man.
"CCTV footage has also been extensively reviewed and the ship was searched thoroughly several times without success,” NBC News reported.
“Having ruled out other possibilities, this is being treated as a man overboard incident,” the company concluded, per the outlet.
NBC News also reported that Princess Cruises did not release the name of the man who fell from the ship, but they said in a separate statement: "We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the guest who was traveling alone."
PEOPLE reported that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has now taken over the investigation.
Our thoughts are with the loved ones of the passenger and anybody else impacted by this story during this difficult time.