A Dublin resident is expected to appear in a court in Rome on suspicion of murder following the disappearance of his Chinese wife while they were on a cruise with their two children.

Daniel Belling, a 45 year-old German national, was arrested Ciampino airport as he was about to board a flight to Dublin with the children.

His wife, Li Yinglei, has not been seen since early in the Mediterranean cruise on the MSC Magnifica.

The cruise began on February 9 in the Italian port of Civitavecchia, north of Rome, and took them to Malta, Greece and Cyprus.