It has emerged that a 31-year-old man who died on board a P&O cruise ship on the South Pacific early this morning was the winner of a promotional holiday through the Sydney radio station 2GB.

The station's program director, Peter Brennan, says his thoughts are with the man's family, but he will not comment further at this stage.

The man had been with his family on an eight-night cruise on the Pacific Sun.

The ship, which left Sydney on August 3, has now docked at Noumea in New Caledonia to allow authorities on board to conduct investigations.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says it is giving consular assistance to the man's family.

DFAT says it understands a crime scene has been established on the ship.

But a spokeswoman for P&O says there is nothing to suggest any suspicious circumstances in the death