A retired electrician on a four-day cruise on Genting Dream from Singapore to Penang is suspected to have fallen overboard three days before anyone realised he was missing.

“For all we know, our father could still be alive and adrift  somewhere in the Malacca Strait and it seems as if he had been left for dead,” Mr Adrian Goh, son of the missing man alleged in reports published in Singapore’s local newspaper, The Straits Times.

He said that his father Goh Hai Peng, 74, was seen on the ship‘s surveillance footage when he entered his cabin at about 7 pm on his first night of the cruise on 4 August.

The surveillance footage also shows a figure falling into the sea around 3 am the next day, he alleged.

Mr Goh said his father was in good health and had no issues with drinking or gambling.

“My father was supposed to go on the trip with my mother but because she had to look after their grandchild, he went on his own. I believe he would not have done anything silly,” said Mr Goh. It was his father’s first cruise.

He added that the family has been left distressed that they were not informed about the search and rescue operation.

A Dream Cruises spokesperson said that crew members searched the ship after Mr Goh did not claim his passport during disembarkation when the ship docked in Singapore on 7 August. His belongings were still in the cabin which has a balcony.

The cruise line confirmed that the Mr Goh has gone missing.

“Dream Cruises offers its heartfelt thought and sympathies to the family members of the missing person in this time of difficulty. Dream Cruises is working closely with the respective authorities and will inform the family members should there by any updates from the authorities on the reported incident,” said a statement from Dream Cruises.

The incident has been reported to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, the Police Coast Guard and the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.