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Video: Carnival Vista and USCG Rescue 12 Crew from Capsized Cargo Ship

Carnival cruise rescue
Carnival cruise ship found a raft and recovered six crewmembers after their vessel capsized (Carnival Cruise Line)

Published Dec 13, 2023 1:37 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

One of Carnival Cruise Line’s cruise ships, the Carnival Vista (133,500 gross tons), rescued six crewmembers from a small cargo ship lost overnight, December 13, approximately 30 miles north of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. The US Coast Guard also became involved in the search and later found six additional crewmembers floating in the ocean.

According to the report, an onboard monitoring system received an emergency alert while the cruise ship was sailing toward the port of Amber Cove on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The Carnival Vista, which has a capacity for approximately 4,000 passengers, departed from Port Canaveral, Florida on Sunday, December 10, on a six-day cruise,

The officers of the cruise ship under the direction of Captain Paolo Severini altered the ship’s course after receiving the emergency alert. They also coordinated with Carnival’s Fleet Operations Center in Miami and the local Coast Guard.

 

Carnival Vista's officers spotted a raft when they reached the area of the emergency signal (Carnival Cruise Line)

 

Reaching the area of the alert, the ship’s officers spotted a life raft. The cruise ship stopped and recovered the raft with six crewmembers aboard from the cargo ship. They learned that six other crewmembers were missing and alerted the Dominican Republic Navy.

The Dominican Republic requested assistance from the U.S. Coast and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Operation Turks and Caicos was launched in the search for the remaining crew members. Carnival reports that the Carnival Vista was released to return to its route. The cruise ship arrived today in Amber Cove as scheduled.

The Jayhawk aircrew arrived on scene near the sunken vessel’s onboard emergency position indicating radio beacon's last reported location. The crew initiated search patterns and was able to locate all six of the missing crewmembers hanging on to debris from the sunken vessel which the Coast Guard identified as the Two Brothers. The aircrew deployed a rescue swimmer and hoisted all six of the survivors onto the helicopter. They were transferred to emergency medical services in Puerto Plata. 

 

 

“The weather conditions were less than ideal,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jeb Slick, the mission’s copilot. “Our crew’s outstanding work ethic and dedication to training led to the successful rescue of these survivors.”

The 12 survivors are all reported to be in good condition in the Dominican Republic.