A seasoned sailor found himself in peril when a fierce storm struck, prompting him to seek emergency assistance.
The 74-year-old mariner was navigating his vessel 489 miles off Oregon’s coast on May 26 when severe weather conditions inflicted significant damage on his boat.
Despite the challenging circumstances, the experienced sailor used his handheld satellite communicator to reach out to the US Coast Guard for help.
In response, a helicopter was dispatched to the scene, along with the Silver Whisper, a ship operated by Silversea Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group.
The sailor was en route from Hawaii to Canada, a journey he had successfully undertaken multiple times in the past.
Dramatic footage shared by Kamera One captures the tense moments as rescue efforts unfolded, with crew members from the cruise ship skillfully guiding the damaged vessel toward safety.
The small vessel had a broken mast and its engine was disabled, after battling 30-foot waves.
A 74-year-old mariner was rescued by Silversea’s cruise liner Silver Whisper
The incident took place on May 26 after the seafarer’s boat was damaged by stormy weather
The cruise liner (pictured) was on a 24-night voyage from Papeete in Tahiti
They eventually managed to pull the man from the boat and on board the cruise liner.
The mariner suffered a shoulder injury and was provided medical care before being brought back to Vancouver.
An air rescue was ruled out because the vessel was too far from Hawaii, so Silver Whisper diverted its course and stepped in to help.
The cruise liner was on a 24-night voyage from Papeete in Tahiti.
‘This mariner’s experience and preparedness allowed the Coast Guard and other agencies to communicate with him and effect a rescue,’ said Scott Giard, Coast Guard Northwest District search and rescue program manager.
‘His foresight to bring a satellite communicator averted a tragedy. We would also like to thank Silver Whisper for their assistance with this rescue’
Some passengers on board the ship posted about the incident on Facebook, Fox News reports.
‘We were the closest ship to him – it took 7 hours to reach him, with no exact coordinates,’ one person revealed.
‘A needle in a haystack. Happy to report he was found, is alive – with a broken shoulder, but doing well.’
Another described it as ‘quite an experience’ and explained how passengers were sent to their cabins due to the stabilisers being collapsed because of the rough sea.
Cruise workers managed to pull the man from the boat and on board the cruise liner
The mariner suffered a shoulder injury and was provided medical care before being brought back to Vancouver
The Daily Mail has approached Royal Caribbean and the US Coast Guard for comment.
It isn’t the first time a cruise ship stepped in to rescue another sailor in need.
In April, a seafarer and his cat were saved from their distressed vessel off the coast of Mexico by a Carnival Cruise Line ship.
The unidentified man and his pet, Dahlia, had been drifting for four days in the Gulf of Mexico before coming across the massive cruise ship.
The Carnival Legend was on its way to Cozumel when it spotted flares from the sailboat.
The vessel immediately stopped and sent down a rescue boat to bring the man and his cat on board.
The sailor received medical attention while the crew also looked after Dahlia, Carnival told the Daily Mail.
‘We’ve never experienced anything like this,’ a witness, Alan Loy, said to Fox 26.
‘To be out in the middle of the ocean, and then you look out, and you see a spotlight shining on a sailboat that was just going up and down in the waves. You can tell that it was distressed.’
In April, a seafarer and his cat were saved from their distressed vessel off the coast of Mexico by a Carnival Cruise Line ship
‘We just saw it rocking really heavily,’ his wife, Courtney Loy, added.
Video captured by the couple and posted to their TikTok showed the boat swaying in the tall waves.
The boat had its sails down, but the structure of the vessel seemed to be intact. It is unclear what caused the boat to be in distress.
Rescue workers in an orange boat were seen bringing in the man and his pet from the choppy waters.
The rescue did not disrupt the cruise’s schedule.
