Cruise ship that took detour to rescue migrants from sea
BRITISh cruise ship passengers were awoken in the middle of the night by a dramatic rescue of stricken migrants in the Mediterranean. hundreds of holidaymakers on board P&O’s flagship liner Britannia heard the ‘man overboard’ alert sound early yesterday. The 143,000-tonne ship then turned back to help ten North Africans clinging to a rickety wooden boat around 26 miles off the Spanish coast. Passengers – who had paid upwards of £ 1,000 each for the cruise – watched the drama from their balconies as searchlights and a coastguard helicopter scoured the water in the pitch black night. The stranded men were taken on board the 1,080ft ship and given food and shelter before they were taken away by Spanish authorities. One British passenger on the two-week cruise said: ‘We assumed somebody had fallen overboard. We heard a lot of shouting and whistle blowing. ‘There was a little tiny boat in the water. We saw a lot of people in it. It was absolutely pitch black. The seas were fairly calm but we were completely in the middle of nowhere.’ Ship Captain David Pembridge apologised to his passengers after the rescue delayed the cruise’s arrival in Gibraltar by an hour. The passenger added: ‘The captain said they had a legal and moral duty to help these people ... But nobody is complaining. everybody had a stiff upper lip.’ The £473million ship – which holds up to 3,647 passengers and 1,350 crew – left Southampton earlier this month for the tour of Spain, France and Italy. Most of the passengers are understood to be British – with tickets costing between £1,000 and £4,500. One wrote online yesterday: ‘eventful night on Britannia! 1am “man overboard” warnings and the ship turns around, captain picked up 10 African migrants from small dinghy.’ P&O boasts the Britannia combines ‘ the excitement of cruising with the sophistication of a five-star hotel’. It has more than ten places to dine, eight bars and seven entertainment venues. A P&O Cruises spokesman said: ‘Working with local authorities Britannia aided in the search and rescue of a number of migrants off the coast of Almeria. ‘They were then handed over to Spanish authorities.’ A Spanish coastguard spokesman said the Britannia made contact just before 12.30am over several migrants on a wooden boat, known as a patera. he said a coastguard boat was sent from the port of Almeria along with a helicopter, adding: ‘The ten people on board were North African and appeared to be Algerian nationals. They were all men, apparently adult men, and were in good health.’ They were yesterday being questioned by Spanish National Police. Spanish authorities say good weather conditions have led to an influx of migrants attempting to cross the sea in recent weeks. Around 400 migrants reached the Spanish coast in around 20 pateras over the weekend. Some 104 migrants were rescued by coastguard officials in six rickety boats off the coast of Almeria on Sunday. Twelve people – including a twoyear-old baby – on one boat were said to be suffering from hypothermia. Civil Guard officers also recovered the body of a sub-Saharan migrant from the sea on Sunday morning.