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Castaway to sue cruiseline for failing to help
A fisherman who survived 28 days adrift in the Pacific and watched two companions die is suing the owners of a cruiseline whose ship sailed past.
Adrian Vasquez, 18, from Panama, has filed a lawsuit in Florida, which includes testimony from two cruise ship passengers, alleging negligence by the American cruise company Princess Cruises, his lawyer said.
Passengers said they spotted the castaways and alerted staff, but the firm said the captain was not informed, reports the BBC.
Princess Cruises said it understood its responsibility under the law of the sea to help any vessel in distress, and said its ships had been involved in more than 30 rescues over the past decade.
The cruise firm said that there was a ‘breakdown in communication’ and that it deeply regrets one of its ships sailing past.
The three men had been adrift for 16 days, after the engine failed on their three metre long open fishing boat, when they tried to flag down the passing cruise ship with a red jumper.
Mr Vasquez was eventually rescued 1,000km (620 miles) off the mainland, near the Galapagos Islands. His friends had already died of thirst.
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