Updated 9:50pm
A reader aboard Coral Princess tells us that after they left Cartagena this afternoon, the captain advised there was a fishing vessel sinking in the area with 18 crew members aboard. Coral Princess along, with three other vessels, headed to the scene, which was about 52 miles NNW of Cartagena, to assist with the rescue.
Princess says that Coral Princess began a search pattern with the three other vessels and Colombian search & rescue aircraft at about 4:45pm LT. The large fishing vessel had actually sunk at 2am Sunday morning. Three of the crew members had been found and rescued. A fishing buoy, some barrels and an empty swamped inflatable boat were also observed. At 6:15pm, the ships were released from the search by the Colombian authorities due to darkness.
Coral Princess has continued on to its next port, Aruba, where it is planning to arrive on schedule Monday. Colombian aircraft will resume the search for the missing crew members at daylight.
Coral Princess is on a 15-night cruise which left Los Angeles on January 6. It is scheduled to end in Ft. Lauderdale on January 21.
