Cruise ship in dramatic rescue of a 74-year-old man caught in storm

A mariner found himself caught up in a bad storm and had to call emergency services for help. 

The 74-year-old was 489 miles off the coast of Oregon when bad weather severely damaged his boat on May 26. 

Using his handheld satellite communicator, the experienced seafarer managed to contact the US Coast Guard.

A helicopter was sent to assist the vessel, as well as a Royal Caribbean Group-owned Silversea Cruises ship called Silver Whisper.

The sailor was travelling from Hawaii to Canada, a route he had successfully completed many times before. 

Dramatic footage posted by Kamera One reveals how the rescue played out, with cruise workers gradually luring the boat towards the ship.

The small vessel had a broken mast and its engine was disabled, after battling 30-foot waves.

A 74-year-old mariner was rescued by Silversea’s cruise liner Silver Whisper

The incident took place on May 26 after the seafarer’s boat was damaged by stormy weather

The cruise liner (pictured) was on a 24-night voyage from Papeete in Tahiti

They eventually managed to pull the man from the boat and on board the cruise liner. 

The mariner suffered a shoulder injury and was provided medical care before being brought back to Vancouver. 

An air rescue was ruled out because the vessel was too far from Hawaii, so Silver Whisper diverted its course and stepped in to help.

The cruise liner was on a 24-night voyage from Papeete in Tahiti. 

‘This mariner’s experience and preparedness allowed the Coast Guard and other agencies to communicate with him and effect a rescue,’ said Scott Giard, Coast Guard Northwest District search and rescue program manager. 

‘His foresight to bring a satellite communicator averted a tragedy. We would also like to thank Silver Whisper for their assistance with this rescue’

Some passengers on board the ship posted about the incident on Facebook, Fox News reports.

‘We were the closest ship to him – it took 7 hours to reach him, with no exact coordinates,’ one person revealed. 

‘A needle in a haystack. Happy to report he was found, is alive – with a broken shoulder, but doing well.’

Another described it as ‘quite an experience’ and explained how passengers were sent to their cabins due to the stabilisers being collapsed because of the rough sea.

Cruise workers managed to pull the man from the boat and on board the cruise liner

The mariner suffered a shoulder injury and was provided medical care before being brought back to Vancouver

The Daily Mail has approached Royal Caribbean and the US Coast Guard for comment. 

It isn’t the first time a cruise ship stepped in to rescue another sailor in need.

In April, a seafarer and his cat were saved from their distressed vessel off the coast of Mexico by a Carnival Cruise Line ship.

The unidentified man and his pet, Dahlia, had been drifting for four days in the Gulf of Mexico before coming across the massive cruise ship.

The Carnival Legend was on its way to Cozumel when it spotted flares from the sailboat.

The vessel immediately stopped and sent down a rescue boat to bring the man and his cat on board. 

The sailor received medical attention while the crew also looked after Dahlia, Carnival told the Daily Mail. 

‘We’ve never experienced anything like this,’ a witness, Alan Loy, said to Fox 26. 

‘To be out in the middle of the ocean, and then you look out, and you see a spotlight shining on a sailboat that was just going up and down in the waves. You can tell that it was distressed.’ 

In April, a seafarer and his cat were saved from their distressed vessel off the coast of Mexico by a Carnival Cruise Line ship

‘We just saw it rocking really heavily,’ his wife, Courtney Loy, added.

Video captured by the couple and posted to their TikTok showed the boat swaying in the tall waves. 

The boat had its sails down, but the structure of the vessel seemed to be intact. It is unclear what caused the boat to be in distress. 

Rescue workers in an orange boat were seen bringing in the man and his pet from the choppy waters. 

The rescue did not disrupt the cruise’s schedule.