Twelve Rescued After Cargo Vessel Capsizes

Twelve mariners were rescued after a small cargo vessel capsized near the Dominican Republic.

Carnival Corp said the crew aboard its cruise ship Carnival Vista rescued six from the water early Wednesday morning after the cargo vessel Two Brothers capsized about 30 miles north of Puerto Plata overnight.

Carnival Vista’s officers under the direction of Captain Paolo Severini immediately altered the ship’s course, in coordination with Carnival’s Fleet Operations Center in Miami, when an onboard monitoring system received an emergency alert.

The cruise ship’s officers spotted six men on a life raft and stopped to bring them on board.

The Carnival team learned six crew members were still missing and notified Coast Guard officials in the Dominican Republic who launched a search and rescue operation and advised Carnival Vista to return to its route.

The U.S. Coast Guard said its District Seven watchstanders received a request for assistance from the Dominican Republic Navy.

A Coast Guard Operation Turks and Caicos MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew arrived on scene and began conducting search patterns near the sunken vessel’s onboard emergency position indicating radio beacon last reported location and located the remaining six mariners hanging on to debris of the sunken vessel.

The aircrew hoisted all six of the survivors onto the helicopter, and transferred them to emergency medical services in Puerto Plata.

“The weather conditions were less than ideal,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jeb Slick, the mission’s copilot. “Our crew’s outstanding work ethic and dedication to training led to the successful rescue of these survivors.”

All 12 survivors were reported in good health.

The 133,596 GT Carnival Vista, which is operated by Carnival Cruise Line and homeported in Port Canaveral, Fla., is currently sailing a six-day itinerary that departed Sunday. Its itinerary was not affected by the rescue operation.