"Mein Schiff 2": TUI cruise ship rescues dozens of refugees from distress at sea

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"Mein Schiff 2" (archive image): Only the crew was on board

Photo: Robert Schmiegelt / www.imago-images.de

The voyage of "Mein Schiff 2" went differently than planned: off the coast of the Dominican Republic, the TUI Cruises cruise ship rescued 50 refugees from distress at sea, as the shipping company reported.

The “Mein Schiff 2” was on its way to the Dominican port of La Romana on Monday evening (local time).

A small boat was discovered from the bridge about 35 nautical miles (around 65 kilometers) off the south coast of the Caribbean state, as announced by TUI Cruises.

Only the crew was on board the ship, which was designed for almost 3000 passengers.

The ship changed course and found that the 50 people on the boat - including a child - were in acute distress.

According to the broadcaster RTL, which was the first to report on the rescue, water was already running into the refugee boat.

Rescued are said to come from Haiti

According to the shipping company, all people on the boat were safely taken on board, given medical care and provided with water and food.

In cooperation with the Coast Guard of the Dominican Republic, they were brought ashore in La Romana.

According to TUI Cruises, the rescued were people from neighboring Haiti.

It is unclear what will happen to them in the Dominican Republic.

Cruise ships, on their tours through the world's oceans, often come to the rescue of refugees in distress at sea.

In 2019, the "Marella Discovery" off the Greek Peloponnese peninsula took in 111 people who were on their way to Italy by boat.

In 2014, a Cypriot cruise ship took in hundreds of refugees from Syria.

"In addition to the obvious fact that it is a humanitarian imperative to provide help, international maritime law also obliges ships in distress to provide help," said the Hamburg shipping company TUI Cruises on the current case.

"We are grateful that the crew of 'Mein Schiff 2' was there in time yesterday and was able to save the lives of everyone on the boat."

apr/dpa