The Carnival Paradise cruise line set out on a rescue mission after receiving a distress call from a sailor on the seas. The cruise ship sent out a lifeboat to rescue the sailor whose boat was taking on water. The sailor was rescued 13 miles north of Cozumel, Mexico, this is where the cruise ship had initially departed from, reports Fox News.
A spokesperson for Carnival released an official statement describing the incident, “Carnival Paradise reversed course and lowered a rescue boat, brought the mariner on board and provided food, water and medical treatment.” The statement continued, “Carnival Paradise personnel coordinated with Mexican authorities to transfer the mariner, a Mexican national, to a ferry boat and take him ashore.”
On @CarnivalCruise out of Tampa on the #CarnivalParadise and they just saved someone from a sunken boat off the coast off of Cozumel. pic.twitter.com/uwTofdMUPz
— Steven Laboy (@stevenlaboy) May 19, 2019
The cruise ship was en route to Tampa, its home port, after a four-day cruise when it received the distress alert from the small boat. Reports suggest that the sailor was not injured and was returned to shore safely.
A Similar Incident Last Month
Just last month another Carnival Cruise had to carry out a rescue mission, a more intense one; saving 23 men who had been stuck at sea for three days. The entire crew worked tirelessly with the US Coast Guard when they first received a distress call. At the time the cruise ship was on its way back to Alabama. At about 130 nautical miles off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Carnival Cruise Line took the 23 men aboard in the span of a few hours.
The men rescued were Cuban who were on a wooden boat en route to Mexico from Cuba. They lost power and eventually drifted for three days. During their journey, a Cuban-Mexican man did come to their rescue on a sports fishing boat. But, the engines soon malfunctioned and they drifted for three more days. Finally, the Carnival cruise ship rescued the group.
