A story is circulating around the interwebs about Princess Cruises’ Star Princess that aparently sailed by a vessel in distress. On the morning of March 10th, 3 passengers noticed something floating in the water as their ship sailed on transit from Ecuador to Costa Rica.
They immediately alerted crew (although they didn’t state which crew. It makes a difference.) but they failed to react. Anti-cruise blog Cruise Law goes on to state that the passengers also contacted the coast guard, however, once again, they are left with non-responses.
It wasn’t until recently that the 3 passengers became aware of what it was that they saw. 3 young fisherman had become adfrist after the vessel lost power and at that point had been drifting for 2 weeks. After the Star Princess failed to stop, the 26-ft boat was adrift for another 2 weeks before washing up in the Galapagos Islands. Only one person survived the ordeal.
These allegations, which are in a clear violation of IMO regulations made it all the way to Princess HQ.
We’re aware of the allegations that Star Princess supposedly passed by a boat in distress that was carrying three Panamanian fishermen on March 10, 2012. At this time we cannot verify the facts as reported, and we are currently conducting an internal investigation on the matter.
We were very saddened to learn that two lives were lost aboard the boat, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families involved.
Princess Cruises is dedicated to the highest standards of seamanship wherever our ships sail, and it is our duty to assist any vessel in distress. We have come to the aid of many people at sea, and we will continue to do so.
photo via CruiseLaw