Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The Celebrity Beyond luxury cruise ship rescued 19 undocumented immigrants who floated in an improvised boat made of styrofoam and wood on January 2 and the images of the maritime rescue show the precarious situation in which immigrants from Cuba who aspired to reach Florida.
The makeshift boat bobbing in the wake of the massive cruise ship on January 2, 2023 was unlike other endangered vessels and crews that have been targeted by sea rescues. in almost every way possible.
There was no name to be seen on his helmet. It looked like a boat made of metal and Styrofoam. The nineteen people who were crammed shoulder to shoulder in the precarious boat were screaming for help.
A makeshift boat carrying 19 Cubans being picked up off the southern coast of Florida by the Celebrity Beyond cruise ship on its return trip to Fort Lauderdale
4:58 PM, January 2, 2022 pic.twitter.com/lmwnMrt1Iw
— House Speaker nominee Nathan Biller (@BoredBiller) January 3, 2023
The rescue took more than an hour to complete that day as cruise ship passengers anxiously watched and awaited updates from their captain Kate McCue, the first American woman to be named captain of a luxury liner, a position she has held since 2015. on Celebrity Cruises.
Captain McCue, who has millions of followers on TikTok and hundreds of thousands more on Instagram, shared a video of the rescue and its aftermath, thanking his crew for springing into action and saving lives.
At the time, the Celebrity Beyond cruise ship was sailing her last day at sea as part of an eight-night Western Caribbean voyage, which departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida on December 26, 2022 and included calls in Nassau, Bahamas; George Town, Cayman Islands; Rattan, Honduras; Costa Maya, Mexico and the last port of call in Cozumel, Mexico, according to CNN.
This operation to rescue immigrants trying to get from Cuba to South Florida carried out by a cruise ship in the Caribbean It is one of several that have been reported since the beginning of the year, according to the specialized publication Cruise Hive.
Celebrity Cruises has become the second cruise line involved in the maritime rescue of immigrants in the Caribbean in 2023 so far, with its flagship, Celebrity Beyond.
The large cruiser spotted the small boat in the Florida Straits on January 2. A few days later, on January 7, her crew would carry out a second rescue.
Celebrity Beyond responded to a successful rescue at sea off the coast of Cuba this afternoon. Great job Captain Kate McCue and team. pic.twitter.com/jiPCe3Dhlz — John Wensveen (@JohnGWensveen) January 7, 2023
In just over a week, from December 30 to January 7, at least six rescues of this type were carried out by cruise ships in the region.including two aboard the Beyond.
Under maritime law, a cruise ship has to help anyone in distress at sea. In these cases, the corresponding authorities will always be contacted. The US Coast Guard, in cases like this, will meet the cruise ship and pick up the immigrants.
Of the six maritime rescues of immigrants reported in the region this yearFour of the cruise ships transferred the migrants to a US Coast Guard ship, and most of those migrants have already been repatriated to Cuba, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Juan Beal told CNN.
The US Coast Guard says it does not track data on these types of immigrant rescues, noting that other commercial vessels in the region have also reported helping rescue migrants in distress at sea.
It may interest you:
– Florida reinforces control of its coasts in the face of the massive arrival of immigrants by sea
– Migrant encounters in South Florida increased by 400%, according to Border Patrol calculations
– Florida authorities continue to interdict massive arrivals of immigrants by sea