Experiencing International Maritime Rules

I have cruised about a dozen times now and really was quite certain that I had a sense of knowing quite a bit about the process and experiences it provides. This last cruise that I took was a conference at sea, all my cruising has been for work, aboard the Celebrity APEX. This cruise impacted me more than any other because of our experience the last full day.

Anyone that knows me well knows that I feel all the feels and I am an empath which simply means that I feel all the feels for others as well. Tears for me could mean great joy or deep sadness for myself or for whoever is experiencing emotion around me. This was the last day of the conference which meant several meaningful, heartfelt messages and just an overall great feeling of being with amazing people and a sense of the industry moving well in the right direction towards recovery. My heart was full, and I was heading to grab lunch before heading to supplier office hours with advisors.

While chatting with some industry friends a sparkly glimmer of something on the sea caught my eye. I mentioned it and noticed several others on the ship heading to the windows to look too. We were in the Caribbean, no land in sight and a bright hot sunny day, for a change on this trip as we encountered quite a bit of inclement weather. We also noticed as we looked that the feel of the ship was different. We were slowing and turning. We had encountered a small raft full of approximately 16 people.

This is when I learned about the International Maritime Rules because the friend I was talking to said that he was on ships that stopped for assistance twice the prior week. Another advisor with a military background also mentioned another brand that had stopped recently. It is required to offer assistance.

The closer we got to the raft, the harder we could see the people paddling to increase their distance. The captain eventually advised that they were declining help but we were not able to leave them. They called the Coast Guard and we would be waiting near them until the Coast Guard arrived.

This is when my heart and mind were overwrought. I’ve certainly heard and read much about refugees throughout my life. This is was so close though. We could see their faces and their fear. Experiencing and seeing people that were so unhappy, so afraid or scared to stay where they were to attempt floating in this vast ocean with the storms, the heat and lack of food or water. I know I enjoy a privileged life compared to so many, but this realization rushed over me so much more intensely. I thought I understood and thought that I could comprehend but this experience made me realize that I was grossly mistaken.

I distractedly headed our supplier hours and worked with travel advisors for the next three hours. To wrap up this experience though, as the captain promised about three hours later, the Coast Guard arrived and we started moving again. As we sailed away, we could see the main Coast Guard boat and a smaller boat attached to their main boat that was working to contain the raft. I couldn’t see any more resolution than that. What I hope to surmise based on some google searching is that the refugees were taken to a ‘safe location’.

There were many others like me, that were distraught to witness this event. Many in tears, some grouping together praying and many others having different conversations about the event. I do realize there are vastly differing views about the refugee situation, but I hope we can all come together in the spirit of hope and humanity.

Has anyone reading this experienced something similar or have any more insight?