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Tourists describe Tourists on board the luxury cruise ship Norwegian Star arrived in Lahaina this morning with a story of a rescue on the high seas.
tanker rescue
A cruise ship saves 11 people
after a fire on the tanker kills 1
and leaves the ship adriftStaff and wire reports
The interisland cruise ship diverted from its planned voyage to Fanning Island early yesterday to pick up eleven crew members stranded aboard an Indonesian tanker for more than two weeks after a fire disabled their ship.
Crew members said one of their shipmates died in a fire aboard the tanker Insiko 1907 and another suffered burns over 50 percent of his body, according to Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Mia Dutcher.
"Hey, saving 11 people is pretty neat to see," said Dennis Duffels, a Chicago resident traveling with his wife and two children.
Duffels said the Norwegian Star went 15 miles off course after the crew spotted a parachute distress flare on early yesterday morning.
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A small distress fire was burning on the deck of the freighter when the cruise ship arrived on scene. Passengers said the ship showed signs of being burned to the deck and they were told the freighter crew was without power or communications.They said the crew had a little fish and rice and water aboard the freighter.
Passengers said the freighter crew had fired flares at vessels but none had turned to assist until the Norwegian Star came to the rescue.
"The way it sat on the water -- the boat was in trouble," Duffels said.
The injured crewman was flown by helicopter to Kuakini Medical Center in Honolulu, about 11:30 a.m. yesterday.
The Norwegian Star was on a regular weekly cruise en route to Fanning Island in the Republic of Kiribati when crew members noticed the tanker around 1:45 a.m. about 220 miles south of the Big Island, Dutcher said.
The Insiko had been adrift and unable to contact anyone since a "major fire" on March 13, Dutcher said.
The 91,000-ton Norwegian Star, the line's largest ship, sits in the water like a 14-story, fully lighted building. It carries 3,300 passengers and crew and has 10 gourmet restaurants, a 1,000-seat theater and two three-bedroom garden villas that go for up to $25,000 a week.
It also is equipped with a hospital staffed by a doctor and nurses, but Andy Stuart, the line's senior vice president of marketing and sales, said he could not comment on the extent of the treatments given the crew members.
It's not the first time one of the Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line's ship has come to another vessel's aid, Stuart said in a telephone interview from the line's main U.S. office in Miami.
"I think this probably was the most serious situation we've encountered," Stuart said. "Certainly this was a very serious situation."
A member of the duty staff on the ship's bridge saw the flare from some distance, he said, and the mammoth ship was able to slow down as it approached the tanker and drop a motorized rescue boat, which picked up the crewmen.
The Coast Guard cutter Assateague was headed for the cruise ship yesterday to take custody of the crew members and transport them to Kailua-Kona, where they were being turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
"We will interview the people upon arrival and see if they have any passports or visas," said Donald Radcliffe, spokesman for the immigration service in Honolulu.
If the crewmen don't have the proper documentation, they will be permitted entry to allow them to return home or to seek medical attention or both, he said.
Passengers said the crew members were so happy they waved at the ship as they departed.
The cruise ship, unable to call at Fanning Island, was to spend yesterday at sea, said Heather Sheats, a spokeswoman for the cruise line.
Passengers said a few people were upset that they didn't go to Fanning Island but most were pleased with the captain's decision.
"We were happy they turned about to do the rescue -- and it gave us a chance to be in Lahaina," said Pricilla Larder, a Florida resident. Lahaina was not on the original itinerary for the voyage.
The Norwegian Star will spend the day in Lahaina before leaving for Kauai, where it will cruise the Na Pali coastline tomorrow.
The ship will sail back to Maui and arrive at Kahului on Friday, after which it will return to its normal itinerary, heading back to Kauai on Saturday before returning to Honolulu on Sunday.