A passenger has died after falling from his cabin balcony on board a TUI Cruises ship in the Mediterranean.

The ship was nearing the end of a seven-night cruise around Turkey and the Greek Islands on Mein Schiff 6 when the incident happened last week.

Cruise Hive reports the guest fell several decks from the balcony on deck 10 at around 2am on Friday and did not survive.

The ship was en route to its homeport, Antalya, in Turkey, after visiting its final port in Heraklion in Greece. 

It arrived back in Antalya on Saturday but did not leave on its next cruise until Sunday night, a day later than scheduled.

The Turkish authorities have taken over an investigation into the incident. 

TUI Cruises released a statement to German media saying: “We confirm that a guest on board Mein Schiff 6 died in the night from Thursday to Friday as a result of a fall from his own balcony.

“Our condolences go out to the family members. The investigation to clarify the cause has been initiated and handed over to the relevant authorities.”

“We ask for your understanding that we will not comment beyond this out of consideration for the bereaved families.”