On August 20, 2021, several major global media outlets reported that the 82-year-old Kai Wunsche is presumed dead after falling overboard from the Hapag-Lloyd' ship MS Europa. The overboard occurred on August 16th, while the boat was navigating near Texel Island (North-Holland, The Netherlands).
The ship was en route from Hamburg Germany to Antwerpen Belgium, but the famous millionaire was reported missing before reaching Antwerp. The shipowner (Hapag-Lloyd) confirmed the incident but commented that has no details on the circumstances around Kai Wunsche's disappearance.
The news followed media reports that on Aug 16th (Monday's afternoon) occurred an overboard accident involving an unknown man. The ship immediately turned around and started a search and rescue operation, assisted by the Dutch coastguard which dispatched several vessels to the area (5x boats, 1x helicopter, 1x aircraft). However, due to rough seas (5-m/16-ft waves), in the evening the search was called off. The body was never found.
Kai Wunsche (1939-2021) was the owner of Joop GmbH (1986-founded German luxury fashion brand JOOP!/clothing and cosmetics) and one of the owners of Wunsche Group (1934-founded group of companies represented in 10+ countries worldwide and specializing in foods, e-commerce, electronics, fashion clothing and cosmetics, services).
Besides "Joop!", Wunsche Group previously also owned the brands "CINQUE" and "Jean Pascale".
As of 2021, the company owned 9x brands/companies - HELLUX Lighting GmbH (Muller-Licht), MAX Power Products (batteries and energy storage), Globaltronics GmbH, LUNUX Lighting GmbH, Wunsche Fashion (trendwear), MONZ Handelsgesellschaft International (trading), DARIO Markenartikelvertrieb (furniture), Latupo GmbH (logistics and distribution), SIGMA System Audio-Visuell GmbH (Audio Affairs).
For other MS Europa accidents and incidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.