Yesterday at 9.30 pm Italian time, the cruise ship Costa Deliziosa successfully carried out the rescue of 8 people on board a yacht that was sinking in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Yesterday morning Captain Giuseppe Longo, the Master of the Costa Deliziosa – operating on a 100-day World Cruise, which left Savona on January 6 – received a call from the Delgada Coast Guard in Portugal requesting assistance for a sailing vessel in distress.

At the time, the Costa Deliziosa was crossing the Atlantic and heading for Antigua in the Caribbean, where she was scheduled to arrive on the morning of January 17.  The ship left her route at once and sailed approximately 170 miles south-east in order to reach the stricken sailing boat.

The yacht, called Buccanier, was sinking after hitting an unidentified object and shipping water. The 8 people on board were trying to bail water out of the boat using buckets.

Despite the adverse sea and weather conditions, with 3-meter waves, the rescue operation was conducted successfully.  The crew members of Buccanier were rescued and taken on board Costa Deliziosa: 6 Spanish, one Argentine and one Belgian. They are all said to be in good health.

The Costa Deliziosa later resumed her original route on course for Antigua.