Princess Cruises crew ignores 3 men adrift, 2 die

Mike · Apr 22, 2012

Weather Channel: Cruise Ship Doesn't Stop For Fishermen in Trouble

Three Panamanian men were on their way home after a night of fishing, happy with their success, when the motor on their small open boat rattled and quit, leaving them adrift in sight of land, but too far out for their cell phones to work.

...

Adrian Vasquez, 18, saw a huge white ship coming toward them. He waved a red sweater to get their attention, reaching high over his head, and dropping it low to his knees. Though he was near death, the skipper of the little panga, Elvis Oropeza Betancourt, 31, joined in, waving an orange life jacket. "Tio, look what's coming over there," Vasquez recalled saying in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press. "We felt happy, because we thought they were coming to rescue us." The ship didn't stop, and the fishing boat drifted another two weeks before it was found. By then, Vasquez's two friends had died.

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Barred from going to the bridge herself to notify the ship's officers, Meredith said she told a Princess Cruises sales representative what they had seen, and he assured her he passed the news on to crew. The birdwatchers said they even put the representative on one of the spotting scopes so he could see for himself. Meredith went to her cabin and noted their coordinates from a TV feed from the ship, booted up her laptop and emailed the U.S. Coast Guard what she had seen. She said she hoped someone would get the message and help. She sent a copy to her son. When she returned to the promenade deck, she could still see the boat. But nothing happened. The ship kept going. And the little boat with the waving men disappeared.
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So much in this world is utterly, inexcusably, dysfunctional.

nachtnebel · Apr 22, 2012

The sales rep who failed to report this to the crew would make an excellent addition to TSA headquarters, IMO.

Frank · Apr 22, 2012

Article from Panama-Guide.com with a lot more information.

Mike · Apr 22, 2012

Frank said: ↑

Article from Panama-Guide.com with a lot more information.
Click to expand...

That's a good followup -- pretty clear that the captain lied.

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Princess Cruises crew ignores 3 men adrift, 2 die

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