FBI Houston is investigating an alleged homicide aboard the MSC Seascape after the cruise ship docked in Galveston on Monday. By Monday morning, officials said the investigation was still active and they could not provide more details.
The timing matters because the ship had already returned to port after authorities ordered it back following a guest incident aboard the vessel. The case is now moving through a federal maritime response that includes an FBI Maritime Liaison Agent based out of the Texas City Resident Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Port of Galveston Police Department and Customs and Border Protection.
That mix of agencies shows how seriously the case is being treated, even as the facts remain thin. FBI Houston said it was responding to the alleged homicide, while MSC Cruises said it was cooperating fully and providing support to those impacted. The cruise line also said the ship had since left the port and resumed its planned itinerary.
That is the uneasy split at the center of the case: the ship is back under way, but the inquiry is not over. FBI Houston has said the investigation remains ongoing, and the unanswered question is the same one that sent the vessel back to Galveston in the first place: what happened aboard the ship that prompted authorities to intervene.
