Two cruise ships rescued rafters this week. Now the U.S. Coast Guard is interviewing the 21 rescued individuals to determine where they came from and if they should be sent home.
CNN reports that two cruise ship rescues happened this week. On Thursday afternoon, the Disney Wonder cruise ship came to the rescue of eight people who were floating on a raft about 45 miles from Key West, according to Disney Cruise Line.
A Turner Broadcasting employee happened to be on board the ship and took a photo of the rescue. The photo shows a wooden raft with a makeshift sail next to the big cruise ship as the people were rescued.
According to Disney, the cruise ship rescued the rafters at the request of the Coast Guard. The eight people, whose nationalities have not been released, were given food, water and medical attention once they were on board.
The Disney Wonder was in the middle of a five-night cruise when the rescue took place.
The second cruise ship rescue occurred on Friday afternoon. It took place in the same area, , about 40 miles from Key West. The rescue was carried out by the Carnival Conquest. It picked up 13 people after the ship spotted the raft floating. They contacted the Coast Guard and got the go ahead to bring the people on board. Once on the ship, the 13 people were given food, water and medical treatment.
"We are happy to have come to the aid of these individuals and to support the long-established tradition among the global maritime community of providing assistance to mariners in distress," Carnival President and Chief Executive Gerry Cahill said in a statement.
The Carnival Conquest was on the last leg of a seven-day trip.
All 21 rafters are now in the custody of the Coast Guard. They are trying to determine their nationalities but they would not disclose their counties of origin. The Carnival Conquest said that the 13 people they picked up were from Cuba.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
