Princess didn't stop to aid distressed vessel

[MissSlimskys]

The facts aren't in yet but I was shocked to hear on NPR this morning that a Princess ship may have passed right by a distressed fishing boat without offering aid. The tragic thing is that two of the fisherman on the boat were alive when the ship passed them - they died a few days later.

Anyone have any more details on this? I am confident that any DCL ship would've did everything possible to help the ship. Another reason why I feel justified paying the "DCL premium."

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/19/150897139/cruise-ship-didnt-aid-drifting-boat-passengers-say

 

[maria-fan-22]

Ok, that is just wrong! Does everyone remember when the Magic picked up theses guys in the MED. I believe that was 18 people. Wow...

 

[akclayton]

Horrible. So sad. That captain should be ashamed.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/19/150897139/cruise-ship-didnt-aid-drifting-boat-passengers-say


As a Maritime Officer, retired, If this is true.I am totally ashamed of again another of the Maritime Officers.

AKK

 

[DisneyOHFan]

I saw this on the news this morning. So sad and upsetting.

 

[cypressmom]

How tragic and disappointing.

 

[squirrel]

That is so wrong.

Even if they didn't want them on the ship, there is still so much more they could have done to prevent their deaths.

I hope the families can sue Princess Cruise Line. Won't bring their lost ones back, but might make PCL think twice about not giving aid to others in distress.

 

[Kaleigh]

Like the initial poster said, all the facts aren't in yet. We don't know if the Captain even ever knew. All cruise lines are required by maritime law to help ships in distress if they know about them, so if the Princess Captain is proven to be negligent, he will answer.

 

[Tower]

Yet another reason to avoid a Carnival-based cruise line. Others may flame me, but they're not impressing too many people right now.

 

[HyperionDreamer]

So two people died in the aftermath of the ship ignoring them? Sorry, I usually try to turn a deaf ear to the Carnival-bashing on this site, but that's pretty awful.

 

[sayhello]

If it really did happen, it's worse than negligent, because the Captain would be lying about what happened, too.

Sayhello

 

[networktek]

that is so tragic and disappointing they should have stoped to see if the boat was ok

 

[maria-fan-22]

Yet another reason to avoid a Carnival-based cruise line. Others may flame me, but they're not impressing too many people right now.

Whats kinda funny is that at school i'm known as the Disney Kid and for two of our Vocab stories I have thrown in the "evil Carnival Corp" and how disney is the best. So right after I turn in my paper, Another bad Carnival Corp story comes out. Somewhat ironic...

 

[TXDCLfan]

Whats kinda funny is that at school i'm known as the Disney Kid and for two of our Vocab stories I have thrown in the "evil Carnival Corp" and how disney is the best. So right after I turn in my paper, Another bad Carnival Corp story comes out. Somewhat ironic...

So how is Carnival "evil" we have cruised 7 times and had a wonderful time each time Have you cruised on Carnival before?

 

[ilovetexas]

The facts aren't in yet but I was shocked to hear on NPR this morning that a Princess ship may have passed right by a distressed fishing boat without offering aid. The tragic thing is that two of the fisherman on the boat were alive when the ship passed them - they died a few days later.

Anyone have any more details on this? I am confident that any DCL ship would've did everything possible to help the ship. Another reason why I feel justified paying the "DCL premium."

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/19/150897139/cruise-ship-didnt-aid-drifting-boat-passengers-say

You should have stopped at "The facts aren't in yet" but I realize that some people are just looking for reasons to worship at the Disney alter. Good grief.

Inconsistencies in the stories. Lots of them. Let's not forget the last survivor that managed to survive for 14 days longer than his friends while having no water (and yes, I've read the reports of the rainstorm that happened 4 days after the second death). You must not know a lot about possible survival times without fresh water. Sounds like the last survivor was either hoarding water while his friends were dying and he was tossing their bodies overboard OR he's not telling the truth. Possibly both.

Which leads me to wonder why none of the stories indicate that the survivor remembered the cruise ship that ignored them until AFTER the birdwatchers started calling the press.

But don't let the lack of facts or the inconsistencies bother you....heaven knows NPR (which I unaffectionately refer to as National Proletariat Radio) didn't!

 

[clten]

I know not all the facts are in and I'll wait to hear more before making up my mind. But what I find difficult to believe at this time is the story that the Customer Service rep gave the woman who followed up after the cruise was very detailed. So I would assume she accessed some records somewhere to get that amount of detail. But how could the ship have been told to move west when the boat in distress didn't have a radio to contact them to tell them anything? If there were other fishing vessels in the area that they were in contact with, couldn't they have asked about the boat that looked like it was in distress rather than assuming the were "thanking them for not hitting their nets". That seems far-fetched too. If they wanted to thank them, again I would think they would use a radio rather than red and orange cloth.

 

[MissSlimskys]

Pat: National Proletariat Radio? That was a gratuitous politically motivated swipe that, from what I've seen in my short time here, has no place on this thread and or indeed anyplace on this board.

NPR is one of the finer media organizations in the world. They research their stories scrupulously. And btw: the story was also reported by several other outlets.

Why are you discounting the fact that a rain storm saved Vasquez by providing him with fresh water? Why can't you believe that someone would not want decomposing bodies with them in a small boat and would push them overboard? As for "not knowing a lot about survival without fresh water...", there is enough fresh water in freshly caught fish to keep one alive if you are healthy to begin with. How do I know this? Because I am a freelance science journalist who has written over 30 articles for major publications including Discover, several of which dealt with survival skills.

As for inconsistencies, how about the captain saying he contacted a boat that in fact had no radio? I will reserve judgement on the actions of all involved until I hear the results of the investigation. I am truly sorry that some here will not, having already condemned this poor boy as a liar and a possible murderer.

Another question for everybody: Are sarcastic, nasty posts the norm around here?

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

You should have stopped at "The facts aren't in yet" but I realize that some people are just looking for reasons to worship at the Disney alter. Good grief.

Inconsistencies in the stories. Lots of them. Let's not forget the last survivor that managed to survive for 14 days longer than his friends while having no water (and yes, I've read the reports of the rainstorm that happened 4 days after the second death). You must not know a lot about possible survival times without fresh water. Sounds like the last survivor was either hoarding water while his friends were dying and he was tossing their bodies overboard OR he's not telling the truth. Possibly both.

Which leads me to wonder why none of the stories indicate that the survivor remembered the cruise ship that ignored them until AFTER the birdwatchers started calling the press.

But don't let the lack of facts or the inconsistencies bother you....heaven knows NPR (which I unaffectionately refer to as National Proletariat Radio) didn't!

How is you insinuating that the sole survivor contributed to the death of his friends by hoarding water and tossing them over board a better conclusion than a Princess ship ignoring a distress call?

How do you know that the sole did not start off better hydrated than his friends? Or was willing to drink his own urine? Or that maybe in their desperation his friends tried to drink seawater which worsened their condition?

How is it inconstant that the survivor did not report the Princess ship passing them by to the press until after the bird watchers went public? He was recovering physically and emotionally from a near death experience not to mention the loss of his friends. He also would have been unaware that the ships personal actually SAW him until the 'witnesses' on board came forward. There might have been several ships or planes they tried to wave down to no avail.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

I know not all the facts are in and I'll wait to hear more before making up my mind. But what I find difficult to believe at this time is the story that the Customer Service rep gave the woman who followed up after the cruise was very detailed. So I would assume she accessed some records somewhere to get that amount of detail. But how could the ship have been told to move west when the boat in distress didn't have a radio to contact them to tell them anything? If there were other fishing vessels in the area that they were in contact with, couldn't they have asked about the boat that looked like it was in distress rather than assuming the were "thanking them for not hitting their nets". That seems far-fetched too. If they wanted to thank them, again I would think they would use a radio rather than red and orange cloth.

Not to mention, the bird watchers saw them waving before the ship was even near them. Why would they be waving if the ship wasn't in their vicinity?

 

[kcashner]

If it really did happen, it's worse than negligent, because the Captain would be lying about what happened, too.

Sayhello

And this would be different how from another Carnival (Costa) captain?

Bottom line...we will probably never know what happened.