By Charlene Kelly

THE RELATIVES of a Fife pensioner who went missing from an American cruise ship off the coast of Portugal were waiting by the phone last night, refusing to give up hope that he would be found safe and well.

James Ewan (73), of Burntisland, was reported missing on Wednesday after a member of crew noticed he had not used his cabin.

The liner was on a 14-night transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Miami, which began on Friday, October 27.

It recently docked at Madeira but Celebrity Cruise’s stringent identity system indicated Mr Ewan did not disembark there.

The ship’s captain immediately reversed course and retraced the vessel’s path to look for Mr Ewan.

A widower for more than 20 years with no children, Mr Ewan’s next of kin is his 62-year-old cousin, Neil Ewan, also of Burntisland, who described him as “a very happy man.”

“This is completely out of character for James,” he said.

“He is a very sociable chap, always out and about, playing golf, visiting friends or going on cruises to places like Canada and the Caribbean.

“I just saw him two weeks ago on Burntisland High Street. He was doing some shopping and we stopped and chatted for a bit and he seemed the same as always—upbeat and cheerful.

“He certainly didn’t seem depressed or ill. That said, James was a private guy in spite of his outgoing nature, so I suppose he could have been under the weather.

“I am worried of course, as is my brother, James, my wife Margaret and my two daughters but we are all trying to stay positive and hope we will soon get the phone call that will tell us he disembarked somewhere and is alright. I don’t think it’s time to give up thinking positively just yet.”

Susan Hooper, spokeswoman for ship’s owners Royal Caribbean Cruises, said the sea search had been called off and they were viewing CCTV tapes and talking to passengers who might have been in contact with Mr Ewan.

She told BBC Radio Scotland, “The ship’s stewards went into his room on November 1, noticed it hadn’t been used and reported that.

“We have an identity card system on the ship that would show whether he’s actually disembarked or not and they were in port at Madeira in Portugal on November 1 and it showed he had not left the ship.

“It was instructed by Portuguese maritime police to retrace the ship’s path of the previous day and to make public announcements to ensure he wasn’t in a place we weren’t able to know, then it continued on its course to Miami.”

Mr Ewan, known locally as Jimmy used to play golf at Burntisland Golf Club and is an active member of Aberdour Tennis Club.

One member, who did not wish to be named, said that Mr Ewan had been playing regularly at the club for some 15 years and enjoyed a game most weeks during the season.

“Jimmy is one of life’s characters, he was a former salesman from the West Coast and always had a story or a joke to tell,” he said.

“He was well liked in the club. I knew he had been on one or two cruises before but had no idea he was away again.”

The Courier understands that the sea search was called off yesterday morning and investigations onboard the vessel were under way.

The British Embassy authorities, the FBI and the maritime police in Portugal, Gibraltar and Spain have been alerted as have the maritime authorities in the Bahamas as the ship flies the Bahamian flag.