Passengers say cruise ship ignored boat in distress at sea

PORTLAND, Ore. - Jeff Gilligan is still haunted over what could have been a missed opportunity to save three men lost at sea.

The Portland man was on a cruise earlier this year when he and some friends noticed a small boat adrift on the open ocean. Gilligan says the men on that boat were signaling for help, but the cruise ship he was on never offered it. Two of the men eventually died.

An investigation is still ongoing, but the pieces are slowly coming together.

Gilligan's love of bird watching, and particularly seabirds, took him on the four-week cruise earlier this year. He found all kinds of birds with his spotting scope but on March 10, off the coast of Panama, he saw something different: A small boat that he estimated was about two and half miles away from the ship and someone signaling for help.

"We could see that the person on the boat was waving a dark cloth of some sort above his head and below all the way down to his legs – back and forth," he said.

Gilligan and his friends notified staff on the Star Princess Cruise Liner. One crew member agreed the small boat was probably looking for help. But the cruise ship stayed on course.

"It was clear to us that somebody was in distress," Gilligan said.

One of the men who Gilligan may have seen waving for help is 18-year-old Adrian Vasquez.
 
Vasquez was one of three Panamanian fishermen who disappeared in late February. Their boat lost power and became adrift. Gilligan likely saw them 100 miles off the Panama Coast.

Vasquez said his friends were still alive at the time but had died by the time he was rescued 28 days later and 500 miles away near the Galapagos Islands.

"Can you imagine somebody out there on the tropical ocean with no water and running out of rotting fish that they've caught?" Gilligan said. "It's something I can't escape thinking about."

Vasquez has seen Gilligan's photos and says they show his boat. He also talks of the one time they tried to signal a big white ship.

In addition to Gilligan, Judy Meredith of Tumalo, Ore. came forward, saying she witnessed the missed opportunity as well. She was on the same bird-watching cruise ship as Gilligan. She also told the crew there was someone in distress at sea.

At this time, it is unknown what specific information was actually relayed to the Star Princess’s captain. It is a violation of maritime law to not offer assistance to another ship in trouble.

Princess Cruise Lines is investigating.