Authorities in the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis have announced that the body of a 33-year-old Chinese cruise ship passenger who had been missing for nearly a week has been found.
The Royal St. Kitts and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) confirmed in a statement released on Monday, June 1st, that a search team has discovered the body of the Chinese cruise ship passenger, Wang Zyuan (音譯: Wang Zyuan). The police did not provide details on the cause of death, only stating that the case is still under investigation.
According to local radio and Cruise Hive reports, Wang Zyuan was last seen on May 27th, hiking alone on the Mount Liamuiga trail in St. Kitts without a professional guide. He was last spotted wearing black clothes and red shoes.
At around 2 p.m. that day, he called 911 reporting that he was lost, but contact with rescue personnel was lost shortly after, and little is known about what happened afterwards.
In the search for Wang Zyuan, local authorities, the military, fire and rescue teams, the Red Cross, and volunteer groups have been conducting extensive search operations in the volcanic area for days. Telecommunication operators have also provided assistance in narrowing down the search area using mobile phone tower location data, but unfortunately, his life could not be saved.
The hiking trail is located on the dormant Mount Liamuiga volcano, the highest peak in St. Kitts with an altitude of nearly 3,800 feet (about 1,200 meters). A Caribbean cruise company that promotes the trail on its website had previously warned that it is a very challenging hike and the trail surface can be muddy or slippery.
Official confirmation of which cruise ship Wang Zyuan was traveling on has not been made, but cruise tracking data indicates that Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas was the only ship docking in Basseterre that day. Although Royal Caribbean has not publicly confirmed if Wang Zyuan was their employee, a photo in the official missing person notice shows him wearing a circular employee badge, leaving it unclear whether he was a passenger or crew member on the cruise ship.
This is not the first time a cruise ship passenger (or crew member) has died while hiking during a port visit. Last year, Cruise Hive reported on three hiking-related deaths:
In October 2025, an 81-year-old female tourist died on Lizard Island in Australia after being left behind by the cruise ship for failing to complete the challenging trail to Cook’s Look.
In July of the same year, a missing cruise ship passenger from the Norwegian Bliss in Juneau, Alaska was found dead 1,700 feet below the ridge line of a hiking trail.
In September of the same year, also in Juneau, two cruise ship passengers fell on another trail, with only one surviving the incident.