Cruise ship crew rescues 17 migrants who were ‘adrift and in need of assistance’

David Goodhue

A Royal Caribbean crew rescued a group of 17 migrants while the cruise ship was heading to the Bahamas on Saturday.

The cruise line and U.S. Coast Guard declined to comment on the nationalities of the people on the boat. But the rescue comes amid a surge in maritime migration from Cuba and Haiti. And the small boat the people were on is more characteristic of a Cuban migrant boat.

Royal Caribbean released a statement saying the crew of the Liberty of the Seas, which sails out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, launched a rescue boat after seeing the migrant vessel “adrift and in need of assistance.”

“The crew provided them with medical attention, and is working closely with the United States Coast Guard.”

Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Nicole Groll said because the rescue happened in Bahamian waters, the people were turned over to the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.

Groll said the Liberty of the Seas the day before reported spotting another boat with people in Bahamas waters. The Coast Guard has an agreement with the Bahamian government to assist when asked, Groll said.

If cruise ship crews come across a migrant vessel or other vessel in distress, sometimes they alert the Coast Guard and try to turn the mariners over to the agency.

“Other times, they will keep the rescued migrants or mariners onboard and provide humanitarian care until their next port of call. If that is in the U.S., then they transfer rescued migrants to Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations custody for processing,” Groll said in a statement.

A migrant boat floats off the coast of Big Pine Key in the Lower Florida Keys on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. The Border Patrol said 15 people from Cuba came to shore on the vessel. The landing came four days after people on a similar boat were rescued at sea by the crew of a passing cruise ship.
A migrant boat floats off the coast of Big Pine Key in the Lower Florida Keys on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. The Border Patrol said 15 people from Cuba came to shore on the vessel. The landing came four days after people on a similar boat were rescued at sea by the crew of a passing cruise ship.

Meanwhile, migrant boats continue to make it past Coast Guard and other agencies on patrol — which now include state police agencies because of an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis in response to the latest migrant influx affecting South Florida and the Keys.

On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Border Patrol reported that a group of 15 Cubans made it to shore in a rustic vessel on Big Pine Key in the Lower Keys. According to a Border Patrol statement, the people departed from the Matanzas region on the northern coast of Cuba.

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