Ben Squires
News

Cruise ship comes to rescue of stranded yacht

A crisis has been narrowly avoided off the coast of NSW as the Carnival Spirit cruise ship responded to distress calls from a superyacht taking on water.

The lavish superyacht Masteka 2, which costs a whopping $3,000 an hour to rent, lost steering around on 5am on Tuesday with six passengers on board.

When things started to take a turn for the worse an alert from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority was promptly sent out and the first ship to respond to the distress call was the cruise liner Carnival Spirit, which was en route to New Caledonia.

Two female passengers who were injured were rescued by the Carnival Spirit, which was instructed to remain with the luxury vessel until more help could be provided.

The Maritime Authority dropped umps and tools for the Masteka 2 and the Carnival Spirit provided extra fuel and emergency supplies before continuing on to the Isle of Pines.

The injured women could stay on board until it docks in the New Caledonia capital of Noumea, so they have essentially scored themselves a free ride on a cruise ship.

What a scary situation, but thanks to some quick thinking a crisis was avoided. Have you ever had a scary situation at sea? Let us know in the comments section.

Video credit: 9 News / Facebook 

Related links:

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Tags:
travel, nsw, cruising, carnival cruise ship