Personal Injury Law

Cruise ship rescues 6 Cubans from sinking raft

By Lipcon, Margulies & Alsina, P.A.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the status of six people who were pulled from a homemade raft and onto a Royal Caribbean cruise ship near the Bahamas.

On Sunday evening, as Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas was returning from CocoCay, Bahamas, to Cape Canaveral, Fla., someone on board the cruise ship spotted a sinking raft.

Cruise crew members rescued five men and one woman, all of whom were from Cuba, said Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez.

Once onboard, the crew gave the six people food, water and medical treatment.

The ship returned to Port Canaveral on Monday morning, where passengers had unique stories to tell about their four-day cruise.

Orlando resident John Wise said he was in his cabin when the ship's captain announced they had to change course to intercept a raft.

Wise went straight up on one of the top decks.

"The raft was coming very close to the ship at that time," he said.

The sea was very rough, the situation looked dangerous, and Wise watched as the crew tossed out life-saving rings and made several attempts to rescue the raft's passengers.

One person ended up jumping out of the raft, he said.

But one by one, Wise said, the crew dragged the people onboard as excited cruise-ship passengers watched the rescue unfold.

"Everyone cheered," he said. "The people (who were rescued) looked as though they've been there for a long time," he said.

Martinez said the U.S. Coast Guard was notified and responded to the cruise ship Monday when it arrived at Port Canaveral.

Early Monday, the six who were rescued left the cruise ship and were taken onto a Coast Guard vessel.

On Monday, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said she couldn't verify if the six rescued were migrants because the investigation is ongoing.

But if they are confirmed to be migrants, they will be returned to their country.

Originally Posted at: www.standard.net

Full post as published by Cruise Ship Law on December 09, 2010 (boomark / email).