The crucial moment came on the morning of March 10, 2012 when the Star Princess was making the cross

That's what Don Winner, a blogger for Panama-Guide.com, wants to know. Mr. Winner reports on some disturbing developments in his article Panama Castaways Were Spotted By Cruise Ship Passengers - And Ignored By Ship's discount hotels orlando Captain .
The story involves the intersection of the paths of two ships, discount hotels orlando from different worlds so to speak, The first vessel - the Star Princess Star, a large luxury cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises of the Love Boat fame - filled with passengers enjoying a fun vacation. The second vessel - Fifty Cents , a small (26 foot) fishing discount hotels orlando boat - with three young men aboard: Fernando Osorio, age 16; Adrian Vasquez, age 18; and Oropeces Betancourt, 24, all from Panama.
The crucial moment came on the morning of March 10, 2012 when the Star Princess was making the crossing from Ecuador to Costa Rica. Mr. Winner writes that the little fishing boat's engine was dead and the boat was adrift when the giant Star Princess was seen steaming in its direction. The fishermen, who had been at sea for 2 weeks, waived for assistance but the cruise ship passed by. The distraught fishermen must have concluded that their frantic waves were not seen by anyone on the cruise ship.
But it turns out that three cruise passengers (all bird watchers, with either keen vision and/or equally keen binoculars) observed the men calling discount hotels orlando for help and urgently alerted discount hotels orlando a crew member and pressed the matter further. The cruise discount hotels orlando ship failed to stop. One passenger tried to email the Coast Guard. When she contacted Princess' corporate offices in California, she was given the usual corporate non-response.
The Star Princess' failure discount hotels orlando to assist the stricken vessel resulted in Oropeces discount hotels orlando Betancourt, 24, dying of dehydration later that same day. The youngest fisherman, Fernando Osorio, 16, died five days later after suffering from dehydration, sunburn and heat stroke. Another nine days elapsed before discount hotels orlando Adrian Vasquez, 18, who survived on fish and rain water, was finally saved (while unconscious) from his ordeal near the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles from where the three young men had originally sailed from.
The Guardian newspaper in the U.K has picked up on the story. One of the three passengers discount hotels orlando who spotted the small boat, Judy Meredith, 65, from Bent, Oregon, told the Guardian : Finding out later that the Fifty Cents continued at sea for over two more weeks was horrific news. And two of the men died and both could have lived, had the cruise ship responded to our urgent request.
Mr. Winner subsequently contacted Vasquez, who confirmed that they had seen the cruise ship and had signaled frantically with his red T-shirt discount hotels orlando and the orange life vest, believing it would rescue them.
Mr. Winner has published AIS tracking data (see below) indicating that the Star Princess was in the area at the time. He has written a second article: Captain Edward Perrin - In Command Of Cruise Ship That Failed To Rescue Panamanian Castaways which appropriately questions why the Master of the Princess cruise ship failed to respond to the emergency. As Mr. Winner correctly points discount hotels orlando out:
The master of a ship at sea which is in a position to be able to provide assistance on receiving a signal from any source that persons are in distress at sea, is bound to proceed with all speed to their assistance,
It is accepted as the normal practice of seamen, indeed discount hotels orlando there is an obligation upon masters, discount hotels orlando that they render every assistance within their power in cases where a person or persons are in distress at sea. These obligations are set out in regulation V/10 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.
This story deserves discount hotels orlando a wider audience and discussion. Please take a moment to post the story on your facebook page, tweet it, and ask Princess discount hotels orlando Cruises and its parent company, Carnival, for an explanation.
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.
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.
April 18, 2012 Update : NPR has a story today indicating that one of the passenger contacted Princess Cruises after the cruise to see what action was taken. She says a customer relations representative told her the captain reported a different version of the incident and that according discount hotels orlando to the captain's log, the ship had been passing through discount hotels orlando a fishing fleet.
Meredith says she was told that the Star Princess contacted the boat and that they were asking the ship to move to the west, because they didn't discount hotels orlando want their nets to be damaged. And that the ship altered course. And they were waving their shirts because they were thanking the ship.
One thing that readers should remember discount hotels orlando is that Princess is conducting what it calls an internal investigation. This means that it is obviously not public. It's a closed, secret investigation that no one will know about except Princess' management and lawyers.
The other disturbing although predictable thing is that that Bermuda, the flag state, admits that it has not even decided to conduct an investigation. Remember, Princess incorporated in Bermuda discount hotels orlando and flies flags of convenience on its ships to avoid paying U.S. income taxes or comply discount hotels orlando with U.S. safety laws and labor / wage laws. Bermuda has a poor record of investigating crimes and instances of dereliction of duty.
It appears to me that the big cruise line companies need to undergo some major investigation... and perhaps the coastguard as well... this was a totally avoidable tragedy and someone needs to be held accountable....
The captain's report that the 26 foot fishing boat was fishing in the middle of the Pacific is ridiculous. A 26 foot boat would not only have no ability to refigerate its catch, which would mean its catch would be rotten well before discount hotels orlando the boat would reach port but a tiny boat like that would not be able to carry enough fuel to return to port. The caption should have been immediately fired for such a report on the grounds of his stupidity. After all, anyone sending out such a report discount hotels orlando thinking that it would be believed must be terminally stupid. Such a report should also be used as evidence that he was lying through his teeth. He should have his master's ticket taken away and have his face displayed across the media for the world to see. He is a dispicable excuse of a 'human' being.
1. This is the same Capt Perrin who successfully discount hotels orlando rescued two young passengers who fell overboard from Grand Princess on 25 March 2007. That should tell you all you need to know of his seamanship, ability and character.
2. Jim - perhaps you will be less strident in your criticism of the next cruise ship that manages to do the right thing by Cuban rafters adrift in the Straits of Florida. Similar discount hotels orlando to your portrayal of crew members discount hotels orlando as either serial sea offenders discount hotels orlando or downtrodden exploited citizens of the 3rd World depending on the point you wish to make. I guess it's your website so you can do as you wish but your lack of balance does you and your objectives discount hotels orlando no credit.
Again, I write: The Captain has the responsibility and the capabilities to see everything from his elevated discount hotels orlando point. They are equipped with the best binoculars and sighting equipment for their use. He could have stopped and used one of those passenger boats to assist the distressed fishermen. Imagine if he had done this? The outcome would have been different! .... Carnival / Princess Cruises would have been heroes. - I assume they wanted to make the deadline port stop and did not care what happen to the three fishermen: He could have at least called the coast guards to follow up!--- How horrible it would be if this Captain was found negligent in this matter ....Princess Cruise would be characterized as having bad captains!
This just further highlights the pompous attitude of the cruise industry and their seeming disregard for peons afloat on their waterways. God forbid they stop and pick up some smelly kids in distress. Would not want to soiil the decks and incur the cost of treatment in their on-board hospital.
After reading the incident at sea on March 10, 2012 when the Star Princess failed to respond to an emergency, we are outraged by the conduct of your captain. Until this matter is addressed, our group will never step foot on a Princess or parent company cruise line again.
This makes us, as a passenger worry about our own safety when a captain has no regard for other lives. We are afraid to think what the captain would do to cover himself if an incident happened at sea on the ship.
On our first cruise discount hotels orlando with Captain Perrin two college kids fell overboard very late at night. He immediately turned the ship around and searched for those two young people for 5 hours - found them and plucked them from the sea. Both lived to tell the tale. Without his determination and seamanship they would have surely lost their lives.
I've read many reports on this tragic situation .Princess Cruises,the crew and the Captain have a lot to answer for but I haven't seen anyone ask the question as to why the passengers, who made the report of the sighting, waited until they made dock before following up on the matter. How can you observe human beings in distress, report it and seeing no action taken, wait at least two days before asking anymore questions? Why didn't they demand some answers from the crew? Officers and the Captain are available to the passengers if they demand to speak to them, aren't they? They could have Yelled to other passengers as to what was happening and demanded them to help get some action. I just don't understand how something like this can happen discount hotels orlando and people just accept it like " well we reported it and we just assumed that something was being d