(Newser)
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As Adrian Vasquez and his two friends drifted in the Pacific Ocean, the engine on their fishing boat having failed 16 days before, they were relieved to see a Princess cruise ship sailing past. "We felt happy, because we thought they were coming to rescue us," Vasquez tells the BBC. But despite their efforts to wave down the ship with a red sweater, and despite the fact that at least two cruise passengers saw the castaways and informed staff, the ship sailed by without offering assistance. Now Vasquez, the sole survivor, is suing.
One cruise passenger says she even showed a cruise employee the three men through a telescope, and was told the crew would be informed. But Princess Cruises, in what could be the understatement of the year, says there was a "breakdown in communication" and the captain was never informed. The cruise line adds that it regrets the situation, and understands that it is required by international law to offer help anyone stranded at sea. Vasquez was eventually rescued after 28 days adrift.
