Review and photos of sea rescue on the allure 6/3 sailing

[Familygoboston]

ok, ok...now that we have that all figured out, HOW ABOUT THOSE PICTURES YOU PROMISED US????:)

Hear, hear!

 

Oh sure, lets just go and ruin a great thread with actual facts from a very knowledgeable poster. :p ;) :D

 

 

 

 

Aquahound, thanks for the clarification, and a sincere thank you for your USCG service from me!

 

Eric

LOL Hee, hee! Perfect! Now can we get someone from the fashion police to end all those dress code threads once and for all! Thanks Aqua for the info!

 

I did not take these photos but saved them from my new friend Aaron's (Stroh33) facebook photo album. You will see the refugees being released to the Coast Guard, a close-up on the refugees in their raft, and the Royal Caribbean rescue boat towing the refugees' raft to the Allure.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[praline3001]

Well, yes and no. The responsibility to stop and render aid is inherent. If they are in distress, there does not need to be USCG guidance to embark them. However, the cruise line must immediately notify the USCG and obtain guidance for what to do from there.

 

BTW, I'm USCG. ;)

 

I love your comments and you always know what your talking about :D

So my question, if it seems dumb, is because I don't know a whole lot about international laws on the seas.

 

From my understanding though (proud watcher of Whale Wars even if I disagree with a lot they do) if a ship is sinking or humans are in danger .. raft..boat.. whatever.. then International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue kicks in, correct? That even without the knowledge or consent of the USCG the ship must stop and offer aid, correct?

 

The Princess was in hot water in the media recently for (not proven and not validated in any way by facts) not rendering aide to a fishing boat.

 

In those cases the ships are still required to stop correct?

 

The reason I am asking is someone started another thread that I found interesting about the safety of picking up refuges.

Obviously in this case they were poor souls trying to escape a bad situation in their home country. However what safety measures are put into place if this had been a terrorist type of act?

 

No, I am not paranoid nor does anyone else have to be!!! Stuff like this has always interested me and how the Feds/ military and whatnot keep us safe is extremely interesting. :D

 

I actually met a guy on our sailing who is personal friends with and worked with Michael Durant. Yup, I am that big of a geek to know who that is :D

That was an extremely interesting conversation!

[Aquahound]

Brook - You ask some excellent questions, many of which can have several answers depending on the scenario.

 

Both U.S. Code (46USC2304) and International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) say a vessel master must stop and render assistance to an individual in danger of being lost at sea. That is the duty of all vessels on the water, regardless of USCG involvement or direction.

 

As for Princess, you betcha their in hot water, at least, from the way I see it.

 

You make a good point about terrorism and it is not something that has escaped the realm of possibilities in the minds of the USCG. It's well known the ocean is a porous border for the U.S., especially with the close proximity of the Bahamas and Cuba. Rest assured, both federal officials and cruise lines are cognizant of it and know what to look for.

 

Specific to Cuban migrants, they are violating U.S. law/policy by migrating in that fashion and the U.S. Coast Guard is responsible for holding them, medically screening them, having them interviewed by Asylum Prescreening Officers (APSOs), and then repatriating them to a Cuba. Often, they are non-compliant and the USCG has to step up their use of force in order to complete the mission. The sensitive point involving cruise ships is the point where they are transferred form the ship to USCG custody. This is when reality sets in and they may become non-compliant. However, both the USCG and the cruise lines are trained and know how to handle it with the minimum force necessary.

[terpfan101]

Paul,

 

Do you think cruise ship security have guns onboard? During the rescue of the Cubans last week on the Allure a bunch of us onboard were wondering whether the ship's crew that went out had guns just incase.

[praline3001]

Brook - You ask some excellent questions, many of which can have several answers depending on the scenario.

 

Both U.S. Code (46USC2304) and International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) say a vessel master must stop and render assistance to an individual in danger of being lost at sea. That is the duty of all vessels on the water, regardless of USCG involvement or direction.

 

As for Princess, you betcha their in hot water, at least, from the way I see it.

 

You make a good point about terrorism and it is not something that has escaped the realm of possibilities in the minds of the USCG. It's well known the ocean is a porous border for the U.S., especially with the close proximity of the Bahamas and Cuba. Rest assured, both federal officials and cruise lines are cognizant of it and know what to look for.

 

Specific to Cuban migrants, they are violating U.S. law/policy by migrating in that fashion and the U.S. Coast Guard is responsible for holding them, medically screening them, having them interviewed by Asylum Prescreening Officers (APSOs), and then repatriating them to a Cuba. Often, they are non-compliant and the USCG has to step up their use of force in order to complete the mission. The sensitive point involving cruise ships is the point where they are transferred form the ship to USCG custody. This is when reality sets in and they may become non-compliant. However, both the USCG and the cruise lines are trained and know how to handle it with the minimum force necessary.

 

Thanks Paul! You are always so full of great information!

 

I am sure my questions seem silly and too "what if" but The Feds recently released to the public documents showing Al-Qaeda were discussing taking over cruise ships. I think it is something that regular cruisers should be aware of ... just like Muster drills. Are you going to sink? 99.99% chance no but you should still be aware of the procedures in place.

 

Now my concern with SOLAS is at what point can it be tossed out the window? RC does sail near Somalia and due to that they leave warning letters in guest cabins about lights, locked balcony doors and so on. I am sure you have seen this letter on here as well. Would RC still be required by SOLAS to stop and render aid in those waters if they saw a boat in distress? Is there any point that ships can ignore the SOLAS law of being required to stop and render aid? In this day and age of tricky bad guys I would think this treaty would be a real issue in the safety of the good guys.

[Aquahound]

Thanks Paul! You are always so full of great information!

 

I am sure my questions seem silly and too "what if" but The Feds recently released to the public documents showing Al-Qaeda were discussing taking over cruise ships. I think it is something that regular cruisers should be aware of ... just like Muster drills. Are you going to sink? 99.99% chance no but you should still be aware of the procedures in place.

 

Now my concern with SOLAS is at what point can it be tossed out the window? RC does sail near Somalia and due to that they leave warning letters in guest cabins about lights, locked balcony doors and so on. I am sure you have seen this letter on here as well. Would RC still be required by SOLAS to stop and render aid in those waters if they saw a boat in distress? Is there any point that ships can ignore the SOLAS law of being required to stop and render aid? In this day and age of tricky bad guys I would think this treaty would be a real issue in the safety of the good guys.

 

It would be extremely difficult for a terrorist organization to take over a cruise ship, especially a larger one. There are too many logistical roadblocks and with the international intel network as good as it is today, orchestrating such a large mission with the number of people and resources they would need would almost certainly sound some alarms in the intel community.

 

As for the law, vessel masters are not required to render assistance if it means putting their own vessel in danger. That is actually written in to the statutes. Above the requirement to render aid is the master's requirement to safeguard his own vessel and the crew/passengers on board.

 

Do you think cruise ship security have guns onboard? During the rescue of the Cubans last week on the Allure a bunch of us onboard were wondering whether the ship's crew that went out had guns just incase.

 

Cruise ships go to great efforts to safeguard their security capabilities from public knowledge. So while I can't answer that question for you, I can assure you they are prepared to deal with major problems.

[praline3001]

Thanks again Paul! I figured there was some common sense "street smarts" when it came to using SOLAS but wasn't sure.

 

I wasn't thinking of bad guys taking over the cruise, I realize that would be a wing dinger of a mission. I was thinking more along the lines of the cruise ship being stopped dead in the water. That is a icky thing to do in a bad neighborhood. If the cruise ships were forced to stop by SOLAS (example in the waters off of Somalia) due to any Tom Dick or Harry waving the white flag... well who's to say that raft isn't full of explosives? It wouldn't take a whole lot mission wise to plan something like that.

 

Using the " vessel masters are not required to render assistance if it means putting their own vessel in danger." part of the status would address issues in hostile waters.

 

 

Cruise ships go to great efforts to safeguard their security capabilities from public knowledge. So while I can't answer that question for you, I can assure you they are prepared to deal with major problems.

 

Another reason why your so full of great information! You never cross that line to breech the security and safety of others :D

There are some things we should NOT know and there are some things we SHOULD know when it comes to our safety on a cruise ship. :D