Sunday, May 8, 2011

Cruise ship assisting sailors in distress near Bermuda

Five German sailors sent out a distress notification that their 43 foot catamaran was in trouble with a broken mast and inoperable engine 850 miles east of Bermuda late Friday afternoon May 6, 2011.

Rescue authorities from the U.S. Coast Guard and Rescue Coordination Center Bremen, Germany were able to locate and divert the cruise ship Celebrity Equinox using Amver. The Celebrity Equinox, owned by Royal Caribbean, enrolled in the Amver system on July 27, 2009 and has earned Amver awards for continued participation over the last two years.

The German sailors were on a voyage to the Azores, Portugal. The Celebrity Equinox was on a voyage from Fort Lauderdale to Europe. We'll update the blog as we learn more about this case.

Photo credit: Fotolia
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5 comments:

  1. JohnMay 19, 2011 at 4:04 PM

    We were passengers on board the Equinox when this rescue happened. The Captain diverted the ship to meet the cat in distress. We loaded need fuel for them to reach the Azores under power. Everyone on the Equinox was excited and happy we were able help the distressed sailors.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amver Maritime RelationsMay 19, 2011 at 9:30 PM

    John,
    Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm glad you, and the rest of the passengers, got to see the Amver system in action. Thankfully the Equinox didn't need to embark the yachtsmen.

    If not for the dedicated crews like those on Equinox we would never be able to save so many lives.

    Wishing you fair winds and following seas!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ocean Hammock ResidentsMay 20, 2011 at 12:45 PM

    I too was onboard Equinox and filmed the rescue from my 9th deck balcony. I posted the 5-min. video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebA81ljL8cg. I have already heard from Lady Freda's captain, Michael Scherer, that they are safe and very thankful for the rescue and the prayers of the Equinox passengers. It's great to know about Amver and to have been a very small part of this operation to save 5 precious lives. Thank you for your great work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amver Maritime RelationsMay 20, 2011 at 9:35 PM

    Mary,
    What an awesome video! I hope you won't mind if we post it in an update piece for this rescue?

    Keep reading, taping, and cruising!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ocean Hammock ResidentsMay 21, 2011 at 12:26 PM

    So glad you liked the video. Please do share it so everyone can see what wonderful lifesaving work you make possible!

    ReplyDelete

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