The fishing boat Fifty Cents seen from aboard the Star Princess. Passengers on the cruise ship claim its crew ignored the boat. Photo courtesy: Jeff Gilligan via guardian.co.ukWow!! Cruise lines seem to be in the news a lot lately with sinkings, losing guests overboard; ship's captain and crew leaving a sinking ship without telling the passengers the ship was sinking; and, other tragedies; and, they have somehow managed to remain afloat. However, this might be the incident that sinks Carnival Cruise Lines.
One of the cardinal rules of the sea is that if a boat in distress is encountered, everything is stopped until all survivors have been rescued. The survivors are taken to an appropriate port and preparations are made to restore them to their families.
It would appear that this naval tradition was deliberately ignored resulting in the death of two fishermen. It would also appear that a false entry was made in the ship's log in an effort to disguise what truly happened.
The cruise line operator Carnival Corporation has launched an internal investigation after passengers claimed one of its ships ignored pleas to rescue three fishermen they spotted adrift in the Pacific ocean.
The story of the Panamanian teenage hotel worker who survived for 28 days adrift in a 10-foot boat made headlines around the world last month. His two friends died of dehydration before the boat was eventually rescued near the Galapagos Islands.
But now it has emerged that a cruise ship travelling from Ecuador to Costa Rica passed near the path of their fishing boat, the Fifty Cents, which was allegedly spotted in apparent distress by three birdwatchers on board. The passengers claim they alerted the crew of the Star Princess, but it failed to stop.
The Star Princess is owned by Princess cruise lines, part of Carnival, the owner of the Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the Italian coast in January.
Later on the night of 10 March, Oropeces Betancourt, 24, died of dehydration. The youngest fisherman, Fernando Osorio, 16, died on 15 March suffering from dehydration, sunburn and heat stroke. Another nine days elapsed before Adrian Vasquez, 18, was finally saved from his ordeal, having had to push his friends' bodies overboard.
One of the three passengers who claims to have spotted the small fibreglass boat, Judy Meredith, 65, from Bend, Oregon, told the Guardian: "Finding out later that the Fifty Cents continued at sea for over two more weeks was horrific news. And two of the men died and both could have lived, had the cruise ship responded to our urgent request."
Her story is supported by Don Winner, a Panama-based, English-language blogger who had covered the story of Vasquez's trials at sea. Winner, the publisher of panama-guide.com, subsequently tracked down Vasquez, who confirmed that he and his friends had seen the cruise ship and had signalled frantically with his red T-shirt and orange life vest, believing it would rescue them.
Vasquez also confirmed that a picture taken by the cruise passengers was of his boat, and Winner has published satellite tracking data appearing to show that the Star Princess was in the area at the time.
On Tuesday night a spokesman for the company said: "We're aware of the allegations that Star Princess supposedly passed by a boat in distress that was carrying three Panamanian fishermen on 10 March, 2012.
"At this time we cannot verify the facts as reported, and we are currently conducting an internal investigation on the matter. We were very saddened to learn that two lives were lost aboard the boat, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families involved."
The company said the British captain of the Star Princess, Edward Perrin, was not available for comment, but added: "Princess Cruises is dedicated to the highest standards of seamanship wherever our ships sail, and it is our duty to assist any vessel in distress. We have come to the aid of many people at sea, and we will continue to do so."
Meredith, a keen birdwatcher, was travelling on the Star Princess with two fellow birders, Jeff Gilligan, 61, from Portland, and Jim Dowdell, 54, from Ireland.
The three were on the promenade deck for most of the day scanning the ocean with powerful binoculars when Gilligan saw the small panga, a Panamanian fishing boat.
Gilligan said: "I saw an object that looked like a little house. We then used spotting scopes with a fixed tripod and I could see this strange little boat and at least one person standing up waving a piece of cloth high over his head, up and down.
Map shows route fishing boat took. Photo courtesy: guardian.co.uk"We could see it was not moving – there were nets pulled on to the boat and apparently no nets in the water. So we soon questioned – is this a stranded, disabled boat, signalling us for help?"
Meredith said it was clear something was wrong. She informed a crew member in officer's uniform, who said he would relay their concerns to the bridge. But the ship sailed on.
Gilligan said: "We were convinced the bridge knew what was happening, and thought maybe it took a while to turn around. But after a while we realised it wasn't turning."
The three then decided to contact coastguards themselves, but slow internet access and problems finding a local site left them emailing the US authorities to alert them. The email appears not to have been received or logged.
Meredith said: "We all three wanted to believe over the next few hours that since the cruise ship hadn't turned around, they must have had to notify some authorities from some nearby country or agency's search and rescue to come to his aid."
The three continued to discuss the sighting with crew and local tour guides in Costa Rica. One of the guides later emailed Gilligan, on his return to the US, with a link to news of Vasquez's rescue, suggesting that this must have been his boat.
When Meredith heard the news, she pressed Carnival to find out what action had been taken. She claims the cruise line told her that the ship's log had recorded "contact" with nearby fishermen, who thanked them for avoiding their nets. Neither Meredith nor Gilligan recall seeing any other boats that day.
Gilligan had taken three photographs of the drifting boat before losing sight of it, which he sent to Winner. Winner said on Tuesday: "He [Vasquez] confirmed that the picture of the boat I received from the birdwatchers was theirs. I asked him if he had a red flag; he said, 'I had a red T-shirt and I was waving it over my head like this. My friend Fernando had an orange life vest he was waving over his head.' … He said that was definitely them. The two stories match up completely."
Satellite tracking data recorded by Winner seems to show that the Star Princess would have crossed the route taken by the ill-fated Fifty Cents, and did not deviate course after passing the location noted by the birdwatchers on 10 March.
Perrin, the captain of the Star Princess at the helm that day, is among Princess's most experienced sailors.
Vasquez had joined his friends on a fishing trip to earn some extra money. They set off from Rio Hato in Panama on 24 February, but the boat's motor failed as they were attempting to return home and their small vessel started to drift.
Panama's coastguards launched a fruitless search. The Fifty Cents was soon further out to sea than fishing boats ventured.
With only the fish they had caught to eat and no water, the trio's health started to decline. Betancourt, the oldest, died of dehydration on the night of 10 March. Osorio, 16, died on 15 March.
Vasquez's life was effectively saved when it started to rain a few days later, allowing him to fill containers with rainwater.
He was eventually spotted by fishermen near the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles from where the three set off.
Meredith said her concerns were with the families of the young men who died, and with Vasquez, "who endured miserable conditions for four weeks". She said the small, powerless Fifty Cents had looked so strange on the waves because of the nets, "strung up behind the boat – perhaps to create some shade. They only went out for a day."
Gilligan said: "I think about that incident a hundred times a day."
If this concerns you, you can email the Princess Cruise Lines Customer Relations Department at: customerrelations@princesscruises.com
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