The Canadian navy has ended a search for a young German pop singer who was believed to have jumped from a cruise ship, giving him up for dead.

Daniel Küblböck, 33, was believed to have gone overboard from the AIDAluna cruise ship early on Sunday about 200km (110 nautical miles) north of St John’s, Newfoundland.

Aida Cruises said a passenger was seen jumping off the vessel, and a search of the ship determined that Küblböck was missing.

Küblböck, who was traveling alone, became known in Germany after participating in the 2002-2003 season of Germany Seeks the Superstar, a popular televised talent show.

A surveillance airplane, a helicopter and several navy ships searched through the day Sunday for the missing singer, scaling back after nightfall.

A coast guard vessel continued looking for Küblböck through the night, and a search and rescue aircraft joined it at dawn, a navy spokesman said.

“Unfortunately, no sign of Mr Küblböck was found and given the short survivability time due to the temperature of the water at this time of year, the difficult decision was made to end the search,” said Maj Mark Gough, the navy’s spokesman.