Carnival cruise crew members help rescue 12 people from ocean after cargo vessel capsizes

Crew members from a Carnival ship assisted in rescuing six men from the ocean after a small cargo vessel capsized, and a passenger captured some of the rescue on camera.

The men were stranded in the ocean near the Dominican Republic early Wednesday morning, Carnival said in a statement. 

“On the way to Amber Cove the Carnival Vista rescued this life raft,” a woman posted along with the rescue video on TikTok.

“This is insane,” the person believed to be filming can be heard saying. 

Captain Paolo Severini was in command of the Carnival Vista at the time. He immediately altered the ship’s course, in coordination with Carnival’s Fleet Operations Center in Miami, when the onboard monitoring system received an emergency alert.

“The ship’s officers then spotted six men on a life raft and stopped to rescue them and bring them on board,” the cruise line said. 

The Carnival team learned of six additional crew members from the small cargo vessel, and alerted US Coast Guard officials.

The Coast Guard launched a search while Carnival Vista continued on its route to Amber Cove. 

Carnival said the Coast Guard successfully rescued the six additional people.

Carnival Vista is currently sailing a six-day itinerary, expected to port at Grand Turk Island on Thursday, according to CruiseMapper. 

The ship is expected back in Florida Saturday.