Passengers Eurodam angry about saving fisherman !?

[Twilight Zone]

This is a translation using "Bing Translator" from a dutch newssite, so sorry for the bad english:
A number of passengers of cruise ship the MS eurodam felt it was more important to catch their flight home than saving 2 fisherman on a sinking fishing boat on the ocean. That message de Telegraaf.
The MS eurodam of Holland America line discovered some days ago at night in the middle of sea off the coast of Florida a sinking fishing boat with two persons on board. Because the coast guard warned it could not come to the spot quickly enough, the captain of the MS eurodam decided to rescue the fishermen themselves.
After the rescue the cruise ship arrived later at the final destination Port Everglades, leading some passengers their flight home threatened to miss.
When the MS eurodam was in the port, it would be chaos because many passengers wanted to get from the ship quickly. When leaving the cruise ship was formed according to eye-witness a very unpleasant atmosphere, where several persons on Board did complain that the MS eurodam by the whole action too late was moored. Suitcases were in their view, not fast enough available.
Otherwise passengers speak shame of the complaines. "The crew deserves praise for this right. It is terrible that there are people who only think to themselves. " The fishermen have been rescued the crew of the MS eurodam very grateful.

[flintg]

This is a translation using "Bing Translator" from a dutch newssite, so sorry for the bad english:
A number of passengers of cruise ship the MS eurodam felt it was more important to catch their flight home than saving 2 fisherman on a sinking fishing boat on the ocean. That message de Telegraaf.
The MS eurodam of Holland America line discovered some days ago at night in the middle of sea off the coast of Florida a sinking fishing boat with two persons on board. Because the coast guard warned it could not come to the spot quickly enough, the captain of the MS eurodam decided to rescue the fishermen themselves.
After the rescue the cruise ship arrived later at the final destination Port Everglades, leading some passengers their flight home threatened to miss.
When the MS eurodam was in the port, it would be chaos because many passengers wanted to get from the ship quickly. When leaving the cruise ship was formed according to eye-witness a very unpleasant atmosphere, where several persons on Board did complain that the MS eurodam by the whole action too late was moored. Suitcases were in their view, not fast enough available.
Otherwise passengers speak shame of the complaines. "The crew deserves praise for this right. It is terrible that there are people who only think to themselves. " The fishermen have been rescued the crew of the MS eurodam very grateful.

Nothing to apologize for! On line translators are not the best, but the meaning is clear enough! The customers who complained about saving any one should put themselves in the place of those people on the sinking boat and then decide if missing a flight was really that big a deal!
One of the major problems with the world today is greed and selfishness!

[xxoocruiser]

What can be more important than saving a life ? Certainly not to catch a flight on time.

Hope the passengers who complained never need saving.

[lady_cruiser]

Some people think the world revolves around them and they are the same people who would step over a dying man on the street instead of stopping to use their cell phones to call for help. :(

These are the people that I hope I never have to share a cruise ship with. They will probably pushed a wheel-chaired person aside to get into the life boats.

[UKBayern]

I am Dutch so if you need a better translation I can help out. Anyway, the gist comes across, some people should be ashamed of themselves if this is true.
A word of caution: do take news from 'De Telegraaf' with some scepticism; it is a sensationalist tabloid-type newspaper, which makes it hard to tell how much truth there is in this story.

[Arzeena]

What can be more important than saving a life ? Certainly not to catch a flight on time.

Hope the passengers who complained never need saving.

I agree. Kudos to the captain and crew who saved the fishermen. BOO to the complaining passengers!

[Cruizer Bill]

I bet the number of people who complained was relatively small. Most people are more understanding than that.

[SI Dad]

We were on the QM2 and left the Port of Maine heading toward Nova Scotia when a similar call must have come through. We were not told anything but it felt like we were on a speeding ferry boat, engines loud and rocking like crazy. Personally I was getting sick to my stomach but put up a brave front for my 90 year old mom who was enjoying the ride. In the morning it was announced that we would be very late getting into the next port as we had to save two fisherman in a sinking boat. We ended up blocking the wind so they could get the water out and make necessary repairs. Honestly, I did not hear one person complain. I thought it was wonderful that the captain valued a life rather than a schedule.

[Bob++]

I thought it was wonderful that the captain valued a life rather than a schedule.

I think that at sea it would never be any other way.

[Hlitner]

How sad that some passengers would think their convenience was more important then saving lives. Besides, this is not even a judgement call on the part of the Captain. It is pretty much the 'law of the sea" that the nearest ship will render aid unless the Captain feels it would endanger his own vessel or passengers. We witnessed a similar situation many years ago on the Sun Viking when the Captain (Leif Otto Bang) deviated from our course in order to put an injured crewman ashore in the Dominican Republic (the crew member was then air amublanced to Miami). The delay caused by going to the DR and getting the crew member off the ship at night in rough seas (they had to take him ashore in a lifeboat) delayed our arrival at the next port. Several days later Captain Bang had a question and answer seminar for passengers and a lady complained that the Captain ruined her port day because of the late arrival. This was the only time in more then 2 years on cruise ships when we saw a Captain lose is temper in front of passengers. He bluntly told the lady that the lives and safety of his crew and passengers always came first no matter how much it might inconvenience her. Needless to say the lady did not say another word!

Hank

[mikesatton]

The world is wrong. Whenever people think about themselves and not the neighbor.

A shame what these people have done.

A round of applause for the crew of the cruiser to rescue the fishermen.

[Zyzygy]

Because we self-debarked and drove a car parked at the pier, we had no problem with the delayed arrival.

The real problem was with passengers who had booked early flights out of FLL. As one poster commented on a thread at the time [paraphrase]: "This should be useful information for all those people who ask if they can safely book a 10:00 a.m. departure flight."

The answer is that no cruise passenger should try to book an unrealistically early departure flight, and if they do, they shouldn't complain if something goes wrong.

We would all want another cruise ship to come to our ship's aid if we had an emergency, and the same applies to helping fishing vessels.

I saw a lot of baleful glares by passengers waiting to be released to claim their baggage as we walked off the ship, but I didn't see anyone actually behaving badly.

[ricki]

Incredible that passengers could worry about their own minor inconvenience instead of saving the life of those fishermen.

Thank you to the Captain and the crew of the Eurodam!

Ricki

[sail7seas]

When did this event occur?
If it was in the article, I missed it.

[kazu]

Incredible that passengers could worry about their own minor inconvenience instead of saving the life of those fishermen.

Thank you to the Captain and the crew of the Eurodam!

Ricki

We only encountered this once, many years ago and it was incredible. I was so proud of our ship and the crew.

Yes, we actually missed a port - we were coming too late & wouldn't be able to dock....most of us were so impressed with what we saw the crew do to save the people's lives that missing the port didin't even cross our minds.

the people complaining on this one were the ones that felt it was safe to book the early flights out despite the instructions to plan after 12:30

and frankly, we should all be grateful we can go on these cruises and more than willing to be 'disadvantaged' by helping people who need it on the high seas. Cudos to the captain & I am glad he said something to the lady.

As Hitner put it, there are high sea rules and frankly, I am glad they are there.

Cudos to the crew, the captain and the understanding passengers grateful to be there. Thumbs down to the people who only think about themselves.

May all sail safely :):):)

[VermeulT]

When did this event occur?
If it was in the article, I missed it.

end of Oct or early Nov 2010.

[sail7seas]

Thanks. I thought it sounded familiar and was wondering if this was a second event of this sort. I must have heard about it at the time it happened.

Of course, there is no question but that any Captain, any crew, any ship does everything possible to effect a rescue. To me, that is something that one gives thanks for..... that they were at the right place at the right time to help those who desperately needed that help.

[Copper10-8]

When did this event occur?
If it was in the article, I missed it.


During the (very) early morning hours of 23 OCT 10 somewhere between the Bahamas and the east coast of Florida

[sail7seas]

Duh....... No wonder it rang a bell with me. :o

We Boarded Eurodam that day and the ship arrived back late to Port Everglades as reported above.

We were a little late in boarding and for us it was...... How wonderful this fabulous ship and crew were able to help those fishermen.

Of course, the story was familiar to me.

[tjcox9]

It seems to me that there is a "rule of the sea" or some such that comes into play in these circumstances and that one is expected, perhaps required, to come to the aid of others who are in need of assistance.

I'm sure I'll be duly corrected if this is not the case!

Kudos to the Eurodam and others who do this...........

[Cinder Again]

It seems to me that there is a "rule of the sea" or some such that comes into play in these circumstances and that one is expected, perhaps required, to come to the aid of others who are in need of assistance.

I'm sure I'll be duly corrected if this is not the case!

Kudos to the Eurodam and others who do this...........
I believe you are right. I was on a cruise SD to Hawaii, and we had to rescue a disabled sailboat crew (3) in the Pacific. The Captain came on the P/A, told us what was happening, and indicated by Maritime Law, he was REQUIRED to go to the aid of the boat, if he was closest. He said there was a Japanese freighter as close, but we could move faster, so we had to go. Turning our ship to go to their location put us a day behind schedule, actually made us miss an entire Hawaiian port, and they changed the order of the other Hawaiian ports, causing some of us to miss scheduled private excursions, etc. I heard not a peep of complaint from any Pax, even though their only compensation was a glass of "rescue champagne" and we got about $12.00 (I think) back in port fees for missing Molokai. To this day, that rescue sets this trip apart from all of the others, and I wouldn't have missed watching this rescue for the world! Those three guys were very happy to see us, and throughly enjoyed their time on board until we got to Hawaii!

[wilsonqbc]

It seems to me that there is a "rule of the sea" or some such that comes into play in these circumstances and that one is expected, perhaps required, to come to the aid of others who are in need of assistance.

I'm sure I'll be duly corrected if this is not the case!

Kudos to the Eurodam and others who do this...........


You are correct its called SOLAS Safety Of Lives At Sea.

Yes Kudos to MS EURODAM

[doublebzz]

It seems to me that there is a "rule of the sea" or some such that comes into play in these circumstances and that one is expected, perhaps required, to come to the aid of others who are in need of assistance.

I'm sure I'll be duly corrected if this is not the case!

Kudos to the Eurodam and others who do this...........

As a retired Navy officer, I can tell you that coming to the aid of ships in distress is an unwritten tradition that dates back centuries. This tradition transends national origin, political divisions and all other factors that divide mankind on land. I can't conceive of a HAL skipper not rendering assistance unless, as a previous contributor indicated, it would endanger his own vessel and passengers.

[bamatravlr]

We were on NCL's Majesty 3 yrs (?) ago when we had to rescue a passenger off a sailboat with a broken leg enroute to Charleston from Bermuda; The only problem we had with it was the way NCL handled it. We had to make some phone calls because we were an entire day late - we had high seas as well as the emergency... NCL made us wait over an hour to make phone calls on one of their phones at the purser's desk. I think they had 2 phones we could use with no charge. The next day they announced that we could make a call from our room for NO CHARGE! They should have done it the first day. It was very hectic. The most complaints we heard were from the passengers that had to wait an xtra day in Charleston & had their cruise cut by one day. We had an 8 day cruise instead of 7 days but it was the roughest cruise we've ever been on. Most everyone was sick & those of us who weren't couldn't do much because the ship was bouncing around - I hope never to encounter those high waves again (20+ feet).

[woodofpine]

Just kidding...

Hey a tabloid picks up on a couple passengers grousing about nearly missing their flights and embellishes it - no news at all.

What I want to know is whether the fishermen were dressed formal or smart casual?;)

[topcop]

I know who the complainers were.

The same ones who cut into the Lido Buffet Line, show up just before show time and then complain that they cannot find a good seat.

I also saw them boarding the ship. They were the ones who have to cut ahead of everyone or sneak into a line.

I also saw them at the airport. Complaining about the long check-in line followed by the long TSA Security checkpoint.

[sail7seas]

Just noticed your countdown, topcop.

Have a great cruise on Westerdam in -3- days. :)