Cruise Ship Alerts Coast Guard to Sinking Sailboat Near Port Canaveral
Key Aspects:
Carnival Elation alerted the US Coast Guard to a man in need of aid in a disabled sailboat near Port Canaveral.
The US Coast Guard then worked with a container ship to rescue the man and tow his sailboat.
As the craft was sinking, the rescue came in the nick of time.
Thanks to an impressive team effort, a distressed sailor has made it safely back to dry land. Carnival Elation sounded the alert, and then the US Coast Guard teamed up with a container ship to complete the rescue.
On Sunday, February 22, the US Coast Guard Sector in Jacksonville received a report that Spiritus, a 34-foot sailing vessel, had broken down 33 miles offshore of Port Canaveral.
One man was onboard, and he was requesting urgent towing assistance. By the time first responders made contact with the mariner, the vessel was taking on water and listing. It’s unclear what had caused the small craft to become disabled.
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A Coast Guard Station Port Canaveral boat crew was deployed to search for the vessel, along with a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and an Air Station Miami aircraft crew.
Port Canaveral is extremely busy, and recently surpassed PortMiami to be named the busiest cruise port in the world. While this is an exciting achievement, it can also lead to dangerous situations for smaller crafts in distress.
A sinking boat, and the people on it, may not be easily visible to cruise ships sailing in the area until it is too late.
On the date of this incident, cruise tracking data shows that Star of the Seas, Norwegian Prima, Sky Princess, MSC Seashore, and Carnival Venezia were all in the port.
Good Samaritan Vessels Aid in Rescue
While the US Coast Guard frequently completes impressive rescues, they are sharing some of the credit in this case with Good Samaritan vessels.
First, the initial report of the stranded man came from Carnival Elation, which has been operating sailings to the Bahamas out of Jacksonville, Florida.
“Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville command center watchstanders received a report via VHF-FM channel 16 from the cruise ship Carnival Elation,” the Coast Guard confirmed in a statement that was acquired by Cruise Hive.
It’s interesting that Carnival Elation sounded the alarm, given it was Carnival Venezia that was in Port Canaveral that day.
The Fantasy-class cruise ship was on its way to Celebration Key when the disabled vessel would have been found, and in theory, could have passed by the Orlando-based port to spot it or at least pick up on distress signals.
The Coast Guard also thanked the crew of Polar Mexico for aiding in the rescue.
“We sincerely appreciate the crew of the Polar Mexico for their professionalism and their support in bringing this rescue to a successful outcome,” said Lt. Michelle Goebel, the Sector Jacksonville search and rescue mission coordinator.
Polar Mexico is a 230-meter-long container ship, which is capable of assisting in emergency towing operations.
It’s good that the sailboat could be towed, as now the owner can try to repair it, and it won’t pose any lasting hazard to other ships sailing in the area.
Lots of Cruise Ship Rescues
People often say that when it rains, it pours – and apparently, this saying also applies to maritime rescues.
In the past two weeks, Cruise Hive has reported on three other rescues at sea. First up was Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Celebration, which rescued five refugees from a makeshift boat on February 16.
Just a few days later on February 23, Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess diverted from its course to rescue more refugees in a rowboat about 150 miles north of the Yucatan Peninsula.
And on February 26, Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Magic came to the aid of a distressed sailboat in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America). Luckily, all of these stories had happy endings thanks to Good Samaritans at sea and skilled first responders.
Cruise Ship Alerts Coast Guard to Sinking Sailboat Near Port Canaveral