Tourism & Cruises

Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas saves sailors who were stranded for 20 days

Royal Caribbean International’s 1,602-passenger Empress of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean International’s 1,602-passenger Empress of the Seas. Royal Caribbean International

Two sailors who were stranded at sea for 20 days were rescued by a Royal Caribbean cruise ship Friday, the company said.

The mariners were saved in dark waters between Grand Cayman and Jamaica by the Empress of the Seas, according to Royal Caribbean Chief Meteorologist James Van Fleet.

Van Fleet posted photos of the rescue on Twitter, adding that the ship was not scheduled to be there but took an alternate route because of bad weather.

“Sometimes a little luck is all you need for a miracle,” Van Fleet said.

It’s unclear where the sailors were headed and where their voyage started.

This story was originally published December 21, 2018 at 6:44 PM.

Profile Image of Monique O. Madan
Monique O. Madan
Miami Herald
305-376-2108
Monique O. Madan covers immigration and enterprise; she previously covered breaking news and local government. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and The Dallas Morning News. In 2019 she was a Reveal Fellow at the Center for Investigative Reporting. She’s a graduate of Harvard University, Emerson College and The Honors College at Miami Dade College. A note to tipsters: If you want to send Monique confidential information, her email and mailbox are open. You can find all her stories here: moniqueomadan.com. You can also direct message her on social media and she’ll provide encrypted Signal details. Support my work with a digital subscription
Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER