Cruise ship to the rescue

It's pretty surprising the number of cruise ships that render aid to distressed mariners.

https://www.wkrg.com/alabama-news/cruise-ship-helps-coast-guard-rescue-boaters-off-alabama-coast/

One report I saw said the 3 men were Hondurans.

Highlight of the cruise for some/many on board, gives the cruise ship incentive even if a stretch in itinerary.

Friends have told me they thought the highlight was being in a rescue or even watching a USCG helo Medevac someone off the cruise ship.

I wonder what the actual number of rescues per year is, maybe why even for frequent travelers it's still a big deal to them.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/14/us/cruise-ship-migrant-rescues-cec/index.html

Robert E. Rosen, a law professor at the University of Miami who teaches a course on legal issues in the cruise industry, calls the recent spate of rescues “amazing” but also says there’s a logical reason behind it.

“The number of cruise ships has been increasing dramatically over the last decade. Not only are they larger, there are more of them,” he says.

Couple that with an increasing number of migrants leaving Cuba via makeshift boats, traveling the same waters as they try to reach the United States, and it’s a trend that Rosen says is likely to intensify.

It’s difficult to pinpoint, though, whether cruise ships are crossing paths with migrant boats in distress more often.

The US Coast Guard says it doesn’t track that data, and points out that other commercial vessels in the region have also assisted with migrant rescues.

Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, a review site and online cruise community, says the phenomenon has been occurring for years.

“Certainly it’s been in headlines lately. It’s not new or even totally uncommon,” she says. “I know many, many people who’ve been on a ship and say, ‘This happened to me.’”

My step dad worked for Alaska Marine Highway System on the Tustemena and they would render assistance a few times a year.

I'm curious as to the rest of the story with the boat. They called the owner he was shoreside, and three Hondurans were rescued from his boat almost 400 miles off Alabama.

CharlieO. said:

My step dad worked for Alaska Marine Highway System on the Tustemena and they would render assistance a few times a year.

I'm curious as to the rest of the story with the boat. They called the owner he was shoreside, and three Hondurans were rescued from his boat almost 400 miles off Alabama.

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The old Tusty.... rode her from Bellingham to Kodiak with my family in early 1990 when I got stationed there.

It's good PR. For an industry that doesn't have a lot of good PR.

slowgoesit said:

It's good PR. For an industry that doesn't have a lot of good PR.

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It isn't also the law ? I thought any boat was required to give aid to a boat in distress ?

If I was undertaking a long sea journey in a questionable boat, I would plan it around cruise ship routes just in case.

I was on lots of cruises in the early 90's. Sometimes we would just stay on scene until the USCG arrived and sometimes we would take them aboard and deliver them to the authorities at the next port.

Migrants just at sea in a POS boat but not technically in distress is a toss of the coin I would think in maritime law. When risks of taking others on board exist... threat makes it a toss of the coin.

Refugee boat sinking...different story.

Benthic2 said:

...If I was undertaking a long sea journey in a questionable boat, I would plan it around cruise ship routes just in case...

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That might cut both ways though -- more likely to get run over at 3:00 a.m. too. You'd be less than a mosquito, the cruise ship wouldn't even feel the bump. I used to sail an open cockpit sailboat on the Connecticut River, even those relatively little barges scared the daylights out of me. Days when there was no wind and I saw one coming, I could have been crushed like a toothpick.

slowgoesit said:

It's good PR. For an industry that doesn't have a lot of good PR.

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Benthic2 said:

It isn't also the law ? I thought any boat was required to give aid to a boat in distress ?

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It certainly is, but that doesn't invalidate my point.

Some day it's somebody with evil intent may take advantage.....