Sun Princess Launches Emergency Response, Overboard Situation Confirmed

For the first time since entering service at the beginning of 2024, Sun Princess is dealing with a man overboard crisis.

In the late-night hours of Wednesday, August 20, 2025, an unidentified person went overboard as the first Sphere-class vessel was sailing through the Dardanelles Strait on her way to Istanbul, Turkey.

She is operating a 14-night sailing from Barcelona, Spain, to Athens, Greece, which embarked on August 9, 2025.

The man overboard announcement was made onboard at around 11 p.m. local time, and cruise tracking data shows that the 4,300-guest ship doubled back to the presumed location of the incident around the same time.

It is currently floating not far off the coast of Cinarli Koyu Beach on the Marmara Adasi Island in Turkey as crew members helped search the water in tender boats.

Current passengers have reported that at least five Turkish rescue boats had also responded to the scene by the early morning hours on August 21.

Cruise Hive reached out to Princess Cruises for a statement and received the following response:

“Princess Cruises can confirm that a person has been reported to have gone overboard on Sun Princess this evening on route to Istanbul. Our ship’s emergency response team immediately initiated search and rescue procedures, which are actively underway at this time.”

“We are working in coordination with local maritime authorities to support the operation. The safety and well-being of our guests and crew remain our highest priority. We will provide further information as it becomes available.”

This is a developing situation, and search and rescue efforts are still underway. Cruise Hive will continue to update as more details come to light. 

Will the Cruiser Be Okay? 

At this time, it’s too early to tell if the person who went overboard will be okay, as they have not been found. It’s not even known at this stage if they are a guest or a crew member.

The circumstances behind the overboard, such as how far they fell and if they had any pre-existing health conditions, are also unclear – but do play a role in how likely a successful rescue will be.

Of course, local authorities and the highly trained crew members working onboard Sun Princess will do everything they can to bring the passenger back onboard safe and sound.

The 177,882-gross ton vessel will likely remain in the area to aid in the search and rescue efforts until emergency responders give them the all clear to resume their voyage.

As every situation is unique, it’s unclear when local rescue authorities will release the Princess cruise ship.

At this point, no itinerary changes have been announced. However, the ship is due in Istanbul, Turkey, at 7 a.m. local time – which is just over five hours away as of the time of publication.

She is also scheduled to call on Mykonos, Greece, on August 22, before disembarking in Athens on August 23.

Catie Kovelman

Catie is an award-winning journalist and researcher. By day, she helps market new movies and TV shows as a senior research manager. But by night, she loves writing cruise news. In addition to Cruise Hive, Catie has contributed to a variety of newspapers, magazines, and other online publications, such as The Plaid Horse, Unwritten, YourTango, Fangirl Nation Magazine, Chapman Magazine, the Orange County Register, and Voice of OC.