Carnival cruise ship helps Coast Guard rescue 3 from sinking boat off Alabama coast
A Carnival Cruise ship is being credited with saving three boaters after the Coast Guard received a distress beacon, officials said.
Coast Guard officials said they received an “emergency position-indicating radio beacon” at 7:22 a.m. on March 26 from a 44-foot recreational boat, according to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard Heartland Office.
The boat, named Snail Mail, was taking on water, 386 miles off the coast of Alabama.
Coast Guard officials said watchstanders in contact with the Snail Mail deployed an “automated mutual-assistance rescue system” to search the area around the boat for any commercial vessels that might be in the area.
Close by was a Carnival Cruise ship, Valor, and the watchstanders instructed the cruise ship to head toward the Snail Mail and assist in the rescue.
The cruise ship arrived near the sinking Snail Mail and sent out its rescue boat, Coast Guard officials said.
All three people on the Snail Mail were rescued and taken back to the cruise ship where they were examined by the ship’s doctor.
The Coast Guard said all three boaters were in stable condition aboard the Valor.
“Special thanks to the crew of the Carnival Valor for rescuing all three people aboard the sinking vessel,” Lt. j.g. Gretchen Gochnour said in the release, “ the Coast Guard encourages commercial mariners to participate in AMVER and self-report their location as this played a pivotal role in this rescue.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2023 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Carnival cruise ship helps Coast Guard rescue 3 from sinking boat off Alabama coast."
