A Fort Lauderdale-based cruise ship made an unusual pit stop on Monday when six distressed boaters were spotted clinging to floating debris after their boat caught fire off the coast of the Bahamas.
Around 6 p.m., A personal aircraft reported the boat fire to Freeport Harbor on Grand Bahamas Island around 6 p.m., according to the Miami Herald.
The ship was seen burning about 57.5 miles off the coast of Port Everglades.
The Discovery Sun took a detour from its daily return trip from Grand Bahama to Port Everglades to immediately assist the stranded boaters.
Crew members helped the two women and four men, who were not wearing life vests, onto the ship, said the ship's hotel director, Samantha Poole. The rescued boaters suffered second degree burns from the boat fire, and were given medical treatment while waiting on U.S. officials to arrive. Poole said they had been using the debris as makeshift floatation devices for more than an hour before being rescued.
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Poole said the boaters were of Jamaican, Haitian and Cuban decent. The two women were ages 25 and 38, and the four men were 24, 31, 40, and 45. She also added that the boaters were fishing for several hours before their boat was engulfed in flames. The cause of the fire was not yet confirmed on Tuesday.
The incident was reported to the U.S. Coast Guard, which sent a ship to retrieve the boaters from the cruise ship. Spokeswoman Sabrina Elgammal said officials planned to interview and embargo to the boaters.
Since the investigation is still pending, Elgammal said the Coast Guard could not confirm the identities of the boaters.
