Carnival Vista Diverts Cruise to Rescue Six People from Capsized Cargo Ship

One of Carnival Cruise Line’s cruise ships, the Carnival Vista (133,500 gross tons), rescued six crewmembers from a small cargo ship lost overnight, December 13, off the Dominican Republic. A search is ongoing for six additional missing crewmembers of the unidentified vessel.

According to the report, an onboard monitoring system received an emergency alert while the cruise ship was sailing toward the port of Amber Cove on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The Carnival Vista, which has a capacity for approximately 4,000 passengers, departed from Port Canaveral, Florida on Sunday, December 10, on a six-day cruise,

The officers of the cruise ship under the direction of Captain Paolo Severini altered the ship’s course after receiving the emergency alert. They also coordinated with Carnival’s Fleet Operations Center in Miami and the local Coast Guard.

Carnival Vista's officers spotted a raft when they reached the area of the emergency signal (Carnival Cruise Line)

Reaching the area of the alert, the ship’s officers spotted a life raft. The cruise ship stopped and recovered the raft with six crewmembers aboard from the cargo ship. They learned that six other crewmembers were missing and alerted the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard officials in the Dominican Republic launched a search for the remaining crew members and advised the Carnival Vista to return to its route. The cruise ship arrived today in Amber Cove as scheduled.