Holiday rescues Cubans

[shecat]

This was in the Mobile Register today.

 

 

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/11141614195330.xml

[happyme101]

This only opens a new thread...not a link?????

[shecat]

Try it again happy.

[zydecocruiser]

Refugees? I thought it was going to be about cigars...

 

Mobile-based ship saves refugees

Holiday encounters disabled boat with a dozen Cubans aboard

Friday, April 22, 2005 By RON COLQUITT

Staff Reporter

A Mobile-based cruise ship rescued a dozen Cuban refugees from a small disabled boat Sunday afternoon in the Gulf of Mexico and delivered them to Mexican authorities the next day in Costa Maya, officials said Thursday.

 

The Holiday left Mobile on Saturday and encountered the Cubans off the Yucatan Peninsula, according to Vance Gulliksen, a spokesman for Carnival Cruise Lines in Miami. The rescue was speedy and didn't disrupt the ship's five-day itinerary.

 

After the Cubans were dropped off at Costa Maya, the ship continued on to Cozumel, Mexico, the next day, he said.

 

"I think it's commendable," Holiday passenger Tom Kaczmarczyk said of the rescue. Kaczmarczyk and his wife, Brenda, of Mobile, were among those on the cruise, which re turned Thursday.

 

The 62-year-old Kaczmarczyk said all of the refugees appeared to be young men. He said the fishing boat they were in was about 12 feet long and made of metal. It had an outboard motor that had quit running.

 

The Cubans were in a dire situation, he said.

 

"We were in the middle of the ocean, and somebody spotted a person waving a white flag in their boat. ... They were within eyesight of the cruise ship and it turned around and picked them up. They made an announcement over the loudspeaker that the ship was in a rescue situation."

 

The men were tightly packed aboard the small boat and its outboard motor apparently had run out of gasoline and was adrift, he said. Talk aboard the Holiday indicated the men had been at sea for about eight days and had been trying to get to Texas.

 

Though obviously thirsty and hungry, the men seemed to be in relatively good condition, considering the ordeal they had been through, Kaczmarczyk said.

 

Brenda Kaczmarczyk said two of the Cubans appeared to be "real bad off" and could hardly get up out of the boat. "We could tell they were weak and suffering and probably dehydrated," she said.

 

Gulliksen, the Carnival Cruise Lines spokesman, said the Cubans were taken to the crew quarters, where they were given food and water and treated by the ship's doctor.

 

According to the spokesman, international law requires that ship masters are obligated to assist any mariners in distress that they encounter.

 

Gulliksen said the ship's crew notified the U.S. Coast Guard after picking up the Cubans. A Coast Guard spokesman stationed in New Orleans confirmed they had been notified, but said no further emergency response had been required.

 

"I feel good about the rescue, certainly," Gulliksen said. "Whenever someone is in distress, we do everything we can to assist them."

 

Billy Hagler, the Mobile area's port director for customs and border protection, said Thursday that on occasion a stowaway is found aboard a commercial transport ship, but he has never had to deal with people fleeing from Cuba.

 

He said that if the Holiday brought a group of Cubans or other foreigners rescued at sea back to Mobile, the Coast Guard, Border Patrol and other authorities would be involved.

 

"Like any emergency, they would bring them in and process them for return to Cuba or wherever they are from," Hagler said.

 

It was the second time the Holiday has made a rescue at sea, Gulliksen said.

 

In August 2004, before Mobile became its home port, the Holiday's crew rescued several people, including a 10-year-old boy, near the coast of Cancun when their 23-foot fishing boat capsized, he said.

 

About 61,000 passengers have sailed out of downtown Mobile over the Holiday's 40 or so voyages, an average of 1,525 passengers per trip, according to Gulliksen.

 

Guests typically come from within a five-hour drive of Mobile, but the Holiday's four- and five-night Mexico-bound cruises have been drawing passengers from Georgia and Tennessee, he said.

[Cotton]

Thx. Interesting article.

[futaba951]

Kind of makes you wonder how wise it is to pick up people on the open seas in this day and time after 9-11. I know it's humanitarian and I personally would have given assistance but the USS Cole was about done in by a small boat too. Just something I thought of. It's a shame that the actions of a few have to make us so suspicious of everyone. It would be a tragedy for there to be some kind of attack on a cruise ship.

[gadawg1979]

futaba you make a good point and all on the ship were having this very same conversation. I must say there is a fine line there somwhere, but it was a little strange feeling seeing that little boat pull up next to the big ship. The crew did search them and the boat prior to letting any of them on the ship. The whole deal took a little over an hour and caused us to be late into Costa Maya. Was a really neat story to tell that your ship saved 12 people. I am amazed that they had made it out there as the seas were so rough the Holiday had been tossed like a top the whole night before.

 

 

Shane

[L2J]

12ft boat?:eek: Reminds me of the "how many people can you cram into a phone booth" bit.

[zonemasconi]

well at least they ate well and got medical attention before going back to Cuba.

[kas1234_97]

I was on board when this happened and it definitely a crazy story. It did make me feel a little uneasy as you never know what people are thinking but overall it worked out and I am glad we helped (well I guess not me but they did)!!!

[TPFilm]

Kind of makes you wonder how wise it is to pick up people on the open seas in this day and time after 9-11. I know it's humanitarian and I personally would have given assistance but the USS Cole was about done in by a small boat too. Just something I thought of. It's a shame that the actions of a few have to make us so suspicious of everyone. It would be a tragedy for there to be some kind of attack on a cruise ship.

 

It may be unwise, but as the article said it is International Maritime law for the master of a vessel to aid those in distress.