Dozens of passengers in red life jackets floated in the ocean as their ship disappeared beneath the surface. This is a picture of the accident that occurred on Sunday 9 November in Samaná Bay, Dominican Republic, where a catamaran used for tourist trips sank with about 50 people on board. All passengers, came from a cruise ship Mein Schiff 1 (operated by TUI Cruises), is rescued by another boat, however, the accident raised controversy regarding the handling of emergencies.
It all happened when the group was on a 12 meter long catamaran named “Boca de Yuma”towards climbing in the Los Haitises area. The Dominican Republic Navy confirmed the incident in a statement, saying the ship “suffered damage to the hull and began taking on water.”
However, TUI Cruises, the parent company of Mein Schiff 1, gave a slightly different version, talking about a possible collision: “According to currently available information, a collision occurs with an object in the watera spokesperson told People. The captain of the sightseeing boat immediately contacted other boats in the vicinity and asked for help. The guests’ rescue was his top priority and he succeeded. A film made by local news service CDN37 shows the frenetic moments of the rescue operation: passengers at sea, with the water started to ripplewhile the catamaran quickly sank, leaving only a small part of the hull visible.
Despite the happy ending (only minor injuries were reported), several passengers who were rescued expressed their opinions anger over handling of cruise ship emergency headmaster. One of the victims told rescuers he did not feel “taken care of”, adding: “My ship did not offer any help, and did not even know anything about the accident.” The Dominican Navy explained that it provides them “communication support and logistical and operational assistance” so that the ship from the company that owned the damaged catamaran could rescue its passengers and take them to port. TUI Cruises confirmed that around 50 guests were “safe and well” and were immediately returned to Mein Schiff 1. “The affected guests were immediately offered psychological help and compensation. All decided to continue the journey,” the spokesperson added. Local port authorities and the Navy are now working together to “determine responsibility and take precautions to avoid similar incidents in the future.”
