Nieuw Amsterdam to the Rescue
Late last night eastern time (today, May 15, local time for the ship), Nieuw Amsterdam received a message from Cape Town Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre requesting assistance for a French sailing vessel underway from Mauritius to France, via South Africa. The vessel was located 80 nautical miles away and lost its mast in heavy winds.
The “Lawur” was in need of fuel, and Nieuw Amsterdam came to rescue. The solo sailor on board spoke very little English, but thankfully the ship’s second engineer, Francois, is French and was able to communicate with the sailor.
Once the ship was alongside the vessel, Nieuw Amsterdam provided fuel and ensured the sailor was in good health and no further assistance was needed. When the operation was complete, Nieuw Amsterdam was release then continued on its way.
Nieuw Amsterdam ready to offer fuel to Lawur.
Currently Nieuw Amsterdam is heading toward Jakarta, Indonesia, to repatriate crew members.
I remember our cruise on the Statendam in 2003 with Captain Consen from San Diego to Hawaii and back when we, the ship, being the closest to a sailing vessel that had lost its capability to pump water, due to a storm having its keel damaged, had to change course and rescue the three sailors that were ferrying the vessel from California to Hawaii.
The Pacific swells were high and shortly after getting the sailors on board the vessel went down beneath the waves.
One of many SPECIAL occasions we have experienced while on board a HAL ship
That’s wonderful news for the small French boat and Holland America rocks again to lend a helping hand to those in need…that’s why HAL is the BEST Cruise Line on the planet!???
Great to see the photos of this mission!
Always there to help..love holland american doing 5th cruise..any way for a free. Upgrade to a suite
So Very kind officers of niuewamsterdam! Keep up the good work .godbless
Well done Nieuw Amsterdam. You’ve done your company and your colleagues proud. Travel safely on your future endeavors and God Speed. So happy and proud that my daughter, Carmen Meyer was part of your crew. I truly thank you. Also for bringing our loved ones safely back home to Cape Town, South Africa.
I just love this company. Always have and always will. #loveHAL #BESTcruiseline #savourthejourney
Congratulations to the crew for helping out. Probably theyshould have lowered their rescue boat to do the transfer of goods as it must have been very challenging and risky for a sailing boat to approach the ship’s shelldoor in such weather conditions.
Helping out people in distress is always a good thing, especially if not done with PR in mind.