Coral Princess to the Rescue

I'm currently on the Coral Princess, sailing from Cartegena. At about 3pm ET, Captain Roger Bilton announced on the PA that he had been advised that a ship had sunk or was sinking with 14-16 people in the water about 50 miles off shore. We are sailing at full speed due north to assist in the rescue. There are two other ships on their way, one of which is closer. I believe it's a tanker. We should arrive on scene at about 5pm ET. That's all I know right now but I plan to be on deck in about 30 minutes.

I'm currently on the Coral Princess, sailing from Cartegena. At about 3pm ET, Captain Roger Bilton announced on the PA that he had been advised that a ship had sunk or was sinking with 14-16 people in the water about 50 miles off shore. We are sailing at full speed due north to assist in the rescue. There are two other ships on their way, one of which is closer. I believe it's a tanker. We should arrive on scene at about 5pm ET. That's all I know right now but I plan to be on deck in about 30 minutes.

Where at Pam?

I'm currently on the Coral Princess, sailing from Cartegena. At about 3pm ET, Captain Roger Bilton announced on the PA that he had been advised that a ship had sunk or was sinking with 14-16 people in the water about 50 miles off shore. We are sailing at full speed due north to assist in the rescue. There are two other ships on their way, one of which is closer. I believe it's a tanker. We should arrive on scene at about 5pm ET. That's all I know right now but I plan to be on deck in about 30 minutes.

WOW! Please keep us informed Pam. You are better than CNN!

Yes, keep us posted!

Hi Pam,

Still one of the nice things about being at sea is that all ships will come to the aid of another, regardless of cost, size etc.

Enjoy your cruise

yours Shogun

Pam, keep us posted. I couldn't find anything in the news.

Thanks for alerting us Pam, Best of luck, I hope you got there in time to assist.

The sad part, someone will complain that their cruise was ruined because the ship had to change course to go assist....

Thanks for the news. Keep us posted.

Hi Pam Hope your cruise is as much fun as you expected. Would like to know how the rescue is going. Best of travels. bt

We arrived on the scene at about 5:15pm. The Captain announced that it was a fishing vessel, the Calypso (probably a tuna fisher) that had sunk at 2am the night before and three crew members had been rescued. We joined several ships and Colombian search & rescue until about 6:30pm when it got too dark to search. The vessels were released from the search then; the Colombian air search would continue with heat technology. We are now on our way to Aruba and are expected to arrive more or less on time.

Unfortunately, the missing fishing vessel crew are probably lost. :( There are probably 12 - 13 still missing. That's a long time to be in the water.

I went to the front of deck 10 from about 4:30pm until 5:30pm. There were a few others there and man, were we going fast! Those of us on deck were almost plastered against the bulkhead until the ship slowed down and changed course. I don't think the stabilizers were out because we were bouncing all over the place. We did see some debris but have no idea of that was from the fishing boat. There were about 4 or 5 ships doing a search pattern.

I think Captain Bilton is absolutely awesome. He kept us up-to-date and informed about everything that was going on. And, he apologized for the "inconvenience."

I've got some photos of the ships searching and the officers on the bridge on the lookout which I'll post when I get home.

Cruise has been great. Sunny every single day; no rain (yet.) Excursion Desk sucks (more later on that.)

I hope the rest of the cruise is not as exciting.

The stablisers would not be deployed since they take about 1.5kts of the top speed. I am sorry to hear about that poor crew.

So sad to hear all may be lost. How unfortunate and sad. Thanks Pam.

Hopefully they will find some more of the crew members.

You are right thats a long time in the water.

Pam, I was just looking at all the cruises you have taken, and all that are coming up soon. I have to say, I'm jealous that you have the opportunity to travel so much! That's my dream!! How are you so fortunate?

Wow...another search and rescue operation for the Coral off of Cartagena. We were aboard her when the crew member was lost overboard in late November.

The official response from Princess (via Alan Wilson of Cruise News Daily):

The fishing vessel Calypso was reported to have sunk some 52 miles

NNW of Cartagena with 18 souls on board. Coral Princess reached the

scene at 1645 and commenced a search pattern with three other ships

and a Colombian military SAR aircraft. A fourth ship had rescued

three of the crew and was ordered to return to Barranquilla. At 1815

it was dark and Cartagena Port Control released all ships from the

search. A fishing buoy, some barrels and an empty swamped inflatable

boat were observed; however no other persons were found by Coral

Princess or the other ships. Coral Princess has now reverted back on

passage towards Aruba and is not anticipated there will be any delay

to her arrival.

A rather eventful day. Sorry it was not a successful search.

Pam, I was just looking at all the cruises you have taken, and all that are coming up soon. I have to say, I'm jealous that you have the opportunity to travel so much! That's my dream!! How are you so fortunate?

The old fashioned way. I worked hard at two full-time jobs concurrently and now I get to play. I am very fortunate but as my Mom said, "You make your own luck." Which I did.

Pam,

First, we are sorry the search was not as successful. It is a sad loss. we were hoping for a happier ending.

Second, I love your statement. You deserve your travels...enjoy...enjoy! So happy that your hard work paid off. My DH and I are hoping ours does too. (we are also old fashioned) :-)

enjoy the rest of your trip.

Happy cruising, happy life... :-)

Thank you Pam and God Bless the missing crew members.

Jack and Nora

The old fashioned way. I worked hard at two full-time jobs concurrently and now I get to play. I am very fortunate but as my Mom said, "You make your own luck." Which I did.

Here, Here.:D Hard work never hurt anyone MO.:eek:

I must say, we had the pleasure of sailing with Capt Bilton on the Coral the other year, and found him to be extraordinary. He dazzled us with a WOW factor, and gave us an experience we will never forget. So Pam, yes, I do believe your praise of the capt is totally warranted!:)