2GB prize winner's death at sea on P&O Pacific Sun
Sydney radio station 2GB says it is deeply saddened by the death of a man on a Pacific cruise after he won the trip in one of its holiday promotions.
Police in Noumea are investigating the man's death at sea in the early hours of Tuesday morning aboard the P&O cruise ship, Pacific Sun.
Radio station 2GB on Wednesday released a statement confirming the man and his extended family won the cruise holiday during a radio promotion.
"The management and staff of 2GB have been deeply saddened by the news of the man's death onboard the P&O liner Pacific Sun," 2GB program director Peter Brennan said.
"At this stage, out of respect for the family, who are being flown to Noumea, 2GB will not be making any further comment."
"The station's thoughts are with the family at this difficult time".
The man, his wife and their 18-month-old child were among a large extended family group on the eight-day Pacific cruise that left Sydney on Friday.
P&O spokeswoman Sandy Olsen said a fellow passenger found the body of the man in a public area of the ship and alerted staff.
There was no evidence to suggest the man's death was suspicious, she said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it was giving consular assistance to the man's family.
The ship was on its way to Ouvea, New Caledonia, having left port at the Isle of Pines, when the man's body was discovered.
It later diverted to Noumea where local police boarded the ship to investigate.
The Pacific Sun is due to leave Noumea on Thursday and arrive on schedule in Sydney on Saturday.
The man's death follows the scandal surrounding the suspicious death of Diane Brimble on a P&O cruise in 2002.
A NSW coroner recommended last month that charges be laid against two men, after a 16-month inquest into the 42-year-old Brisbane woman's drug-related death aboard the Pacific Sky.
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