Drowning fishermen rescued after observant cruise guests sound alarm

The crew of a cruise ship has successfully rescued five fishermen who were seen in difficulty off the Indian coast on Christmas Day.

The alarm was raised by passengers, who had been relaxing aboard their balcony on the Italian-flagged cruise liner Costa Serena when they saw a group of people wearing lifejackets around a mile away.

The fishermen had come into difficulty in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai after their ship broke down, and the shipwrecked men were waving at the cruise ship in an attempt to attract attention.

After being alerted by the observant passengers, the crew of Costa Serena, under the guidance of captain Andrea Bardi, changed course to begin a rescue mission.

The bridge notified the Indian Coast Guard of the situation, and within three hours all five men had been successfully rescued by the Coast Guard and taken to hospital for first aid. All of the men are in good health.

On 26 December, after the cruise ship docked at the port of Kochi in Kerala, the Captain of the Indian Coast Guard delivered an appreciation plaque to the ship’s Captain and his crew, to thank them for their efforts in the search and rescue operation.

Cruise ships are frequently involved in assisting rescues at sea. In May, the crew of the cruise ship Carnival Dream helped rescue 17 people stranded in the Belize Channel after the group’s boat capsized.

And, in 2022, a man was rescued with only ‘minutes to live’ after he fell overboard from Carnival’s cruise ship Valo and spent 15 hours in the water.