Rotterdam Refugee Encounter

[Crew News]

The Captain announced mid afternoon today that an overturned watercraft had been spotted and the Rotterdam was moving to investigate.  Passengers rushed to the port side windows/balconies and promenade deck to look for survivors.  The white bottom of a vessel was floating on the surface and no survivors were spotted.  Within moments, the Captain reported that the vessel had been discovered yesterday, 13 survivors found by a passing Princess ship, and the US Coast Guard would be picking up the boat soon.  Passengers resumed what they had been doing before the announcement.

 

Approximately 30 minutes later, the Captain made another announcement that a raft with two persons had been sighted and the Rotterdam was going to investigate.  Again, passengers rushed to the port-side windows/balconies/promenade deck to see the bobbing blue raft.  As numerous passenger photos were being taken, the Captain announced that the Coast Guard was not available to take custody, so the two raft occupants would be taken aboard and then transferred to the Coast Guard at a future rendezvous point.  The Rotterdam resumed course to Fort Lauderdale but at a much higher rate of speed to reclaim the lime lost to the incidents.

 

Crew News

[leerathje]

40 minutes ago, Crew News said:

The Captain announced mid afternoon today that an overturned watercraft had been spotted and the Rotterdam was moving to investigate.  Passengers rushed to the port side windows/balconies and promenade deck to look for survivors.  The white bottom of a vessel was floating on the surface and no survivors were spotted.  Within moments, the Captain reported that the vessel had been discovered yesterday, 13 survivors found by a passing Princess ship, and the US Coast Guard would be picking up the boat soon.  Passengers resumed what they had been doing before the announcement.

 

Approximately 30 minutes later, the Captain made another announcement that a raft with two persons had been sighted and the Rotterdam was going to investigate.  Again, passengers rushed to the port-side windows/balconies/promenade deck to see the bobbing blue raft.  As numerous passenger photos were being taken, the Captain announced that the Coast Guard was not available to take custody, so the two raft occupants would be taken aboard and then transferred to the Coast Guard at a future rendezvous point.  The Rotterdam resumed course to Fort Lauderdale but at a much higher rate of speed to reclaim the lime lost to the incidents.

 

Crew News

 

Oh my lord!  That is amazing!

 

L.

 

[oakridger]

Again?  I think there must be a lot of Cuban (?) refugees out there risking their lives!  I was on the Rotterdam in November when we rescued 14 (per the captain that night but 13 per some news reports) presumably Cuban refugees just in time before their makeshift STYROFOAM raft broke apart and floated off.  A passenger spotted them right before it got dark and alerted the bridge.  Those people were very lucky, but reports were that they would be sent back immediately.  I wonder if they are in a Cuban jail now.  I've read that other cruise ships have picked up refugees recently also.  Very sad.

 

~Nancy

[ski ww]

Life must be pretty bad in Cuba for people willing to risk trying to cross in those make shift rafts. 

[Seasick Sailor]

These are pictures from my balcony. Overturned boat and 2 in raft rescued.

[EatonDoolittle]

Celebrity Beyond rescued a boat with 19 on board on Jan 2.

Sounds like a lot of people deciding to try and live free or die in the new year. 

[Colorado Klutch]

These situation are pretty common between asylum seekers and maritime mishaps. 

 

Many years ago I was a sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. We were in the Caribbean and one night one of the lookouts spotted a tiny light in the distance. He turned on an extremely powerful search light and saw two people waving one arm while holding onto a capsized boat. 

The Officer of the Deck brought an aircraft carrier to an immediate stop. (Carriers can stop surprisingly quickly.) We launched a boat and rescued the two people. Turned out they were two young men who were island hopping in the Caribbean when their trimaran flipped over. They had been clinging to the boat for three days and were dehydrated and badly sunburned, but otherwise OK. Had the Good Ship Theodore Roosevelt not rescued them, they would have certainly perished. (It is situations like this, and not space aliens or paranormal forces, which explain the whole "Bermuda Triangle" thing.)

And yeah, a lot of Cubans are extremely desperate to escape for a better life. I was a briefer in the Navy and we pretty regularly briefed about asylum seekers. I recall one incident where a man an his 14-year old boy scaled multiple fences and ran through a mine field to get to Guantanamo Bay. (That's a US Navy base actually inside Cuba.) The boy stepped on a mine and lost a leg. He was treated by US Navy medical personnel and was still happy he, "Made it to America". He was literally willing to give his leg to flee Cuba. 

[Sea Viewer]

Duplicate

Edited January 4, 2023 by Sea Viewer

[Sea Viewer]

There has been an influx of refugee boats in South Florida over the last two weeks. I live beachfront and a small "vessel" beached 3 weeks ago near me. I cannot believe that people are willing to go to sea in such vessels in an attempt to get the freedom we take for granted.

 

 

[Crew News]

I learned today that the Coast Guard was too busy to assume custody of the two refugees at sea and they are now on US soil.  If I recall, touching US soil means they can stay and not fear return to Cuba.

[Sea Viewer]

30 minutes ago, Crew News said:

I learned today that the Coast Guard was too busy to assume custody of the two refugees at sea and they are now on US soil.  If I recall, touching US soil means they can stay and not fear return to Cuba.

The wet foot/dry foot policy for Cuban migrants has been terminated. Now all migrants are treated equally and most are returned to country of origin eventually.

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, Sea Viewer said:

The wet foot/dry foot policy for onboard. Cuban migrants has been terminated. Now all migrants are treated equally and most are returned to country of origin eventually.

Thanks for the policy update. At least they got a good meal onboard.