The FBI is investigating a suspected homicide aboard a cruise ship that returned to port after departing from Texas, and a suspect is in custody, the agency said Monday.
The FBI did not say whether any charges had been filed. The name of the suspect was being withheld pending notification of the victim’s family, the agency said on social platform X.
The MSC Seascape, which departed from Galveston, is a towering white vessel that has 2,270 cabins, more than 1,600 crew and can host nearly 5,900 guests, according to MSC Cruises’ website.
“On reporting a guest incident aboard our ship, we were instructed by the authorities to return to the Port of Galveston,” Natasha Fernandez, a spokesperson for MSC Cruises, said in a statement.
The company is cooperating with authorities and providing support to those impacted, she said.
The company said the vessel has resumed its voyage and left Galveston as of Monday afternoon.
MSC Seascape currently runs from Galveston to the Caribbean for five- and seven-night stays, according to the company’s website. The ship switched from Miami to Galveston last November, according to a news release.
Homicide investigations on cruise ships are uncommon. Earlier this year, a teenager was charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship out of Florida.
“The FBI is the primary federal agency authorized to investigate potential crimes on the high seas,” the bureau noted in a post on X.
