Fishermen Stranded At Sea For 20 Days Rescued By Cruise Ship

Two Costa Rican fishermen, adrift at sea for 20 days, were rescued by a Royal Caribbean cruise ship on Friday. "Extremely proud of Royal Caribbean #EmpressoftheSeas Officers and Crew. 2 Mariners had been at Sea for 20 days between Grand Cayman and Jamaica. Had we not changed itinerary to get to better weather, we would never have been in that spot at that time," wrote the Chief Meteorologist for Royal Caribbean International, James Van Fleet, on Twitter.

WOW! Extremely proud of @RoyalCaribbean #EmpressoftheSeas Officers and Crew. 2 Mariners had been at Sea for 20 days between Grand Cayman and Jamaica. Had we not changed itinerary to get to better weather, we would never have been in that spot at that time. WELL DONE Empress! pic.twitter.com/psGWDYB4ug

— James Van Fleet (@JamesVanFleet) December 21, 2018

According to Mr Van Fleet, the fishermen were found in a small boat. He shared pictures of the rescue on Twitter.

More pics to share from @RoyalCaribbean #EmpressoftheSeas rescuing 2 Mariners who had been at Sea for 20 DAYS in that small boat between #Jamaica and #GrandCayman! See last pic for story. UNREAL and so PROUD of Officers and Crew! Thank you @jleberle and @caryjames007 for pics. pic.twitter.com/VEw1tzChMO

— James Van Fleet (@JamesVanFleet) December 21, 2018

In an update posted 11 hours ago, he also shared details about the incident. According to Mr Van Fleet, the two fishermen had been adrift at sea since December 1. They had left Porto Limon in Costa Rica to cast their nets, but their boat was blown away into the sea after they fell asleep.

"They ran out of gas trying to get back and were adrift for those 20 days."

They had only enough food and water for seven days, and when they were eventually found, one of the fishermen was so weak that he had to be carried onboard. Once onboard the cruise ship, they were given medical checkups, food, water and clothes. Before they got off at Ocho Rios, the ship crew also raised $300 for them.

UPDATE: @RoyalCaribbean #EmpressoftheSeas rescues two Costa Rican Fisherman after they were adrift Since December 1st, 2018 between Jamaica and Cuba. Details in pics - pic.twitter.com/TBIUPLp2lZ

— James Van Fleet (@JamesVanFleet) December 23, 2018

Calling the rescue an "absolute miracle" Mr Van Fleet added that the Royal Caribbean cruise took a detour from its normal itinerary because of last week's storm, and would have not located the castaways otherwise.

"Sometimes a little luck is all you need for a miracle," he said.