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Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Assists Distressed Sailors off Bermuda

Published May 11, 2011 10:49 AM by The Maritime Executive

Coast Guard coordinates AMVER vessel's high-seas rescue

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 5th District command center are coordinating a rescue 850 miles east of Bermuda with the assistance of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship Celebrity Equinox, Friday afternoon.

At approximately 12:30 p.m., the watchstanders received a notification from a member of the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre Bremen, Germany, stating that there were five German nationals aboard a 43-foot catamaran in need of assistance.

The reporting source said that the crew is worried about running out of diesel fuel. The vessel is also reported to have a possible broken mast and one inoperative engine.

Using AMVER, the Automated mutual-assistance vessel rescue system, the Coast Guard asked the captain of the Celebrity Equinox to assist the sailors in distress.

The German nationals were en route to the archipelago of the Azores, Portugal.

The Celebrity Equinox was en route from Fort Lauderdale to Europe.