The crew of mardi gras cruiseof the Carnival company, rescued this Friday 16 immigrants who were traveling on a small boat in distress and that was heading for Florida, the company reported. it’s a statement.
The flimsy boat was discovered early Friday near Cuba and eleven women and five men were traveling on board.
The immigrants boarded the cruise ship, where they received medical attention and received clothing and food, the company said in its blog. They were later handed over to United States Coast Guard personnel on one of their ships deployed in that area.
The Mardi Gras was on its last day of a seven-day voyage before returning to its homeport of Port Canaveral on Florida’s east coast on Saturday.
That same Friday, the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Paul Clark transferred 23 Cubans to the Bahamian authorities after being rescued in the Bahamas.
The migrants were discovered last Sunday in a rustic boat about 10 miles southwest of Elbow Cay in the Bahamas.
According to the latest official figures cited by EphSince October 1, 2021, when the current fiscal year began, Coast Guard crews have intercepted 2,146 Cubans.
The United States returns more than a hundred illegal Cuban migrants
That number is notably higher than the 838 migrants intercepted by the Coast Guard in fiscal year 2020 or the 49 in 2019 and the 313 in 2018.
With four months remaining to the end of the current fiscal year, the number of Cuban rafters intercepted at sea by the Coast Guard is already higher than every year since fiscal year 2016, when 5,396 were detained.
Efe/OnCuba.
