A brand-new Disney cruise ship rushed to the aid of a catamaran taking on water in the Atlantic on Sunday and plucked four people to safety, authorities said.
The 50-foot Serenity was 265 miles from Bermuda when it called for help at 8:30 a.m., prompting the Coast Guard out of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to alert nearby vessels, the agency said in a statement.
The Disney Treasure responded, saying it was 80 miles from Serenity, before it headed to the catamaran and arrived between 1 and 1:45 p.m., the Coast Guard said.
Once Treasure got close enough, it launched a lifeboat and got all four passengers off Serenity, officials said.
“We are pleased that the Disney Treasure was able to provide aid to the boat passengers in peril,” Treasure captain Marco Nogara said in a statement Disney released Monday.
“Our crew members worked together on the rescue, skillfully demonstrating their training and commitment to safety,” Nogara said.
A bilge pump on Serenity was working and helped stem the flow of water, but that was only a temporary solution.
“The vessel was able to control parts of the flooding they were experiencing, but they couldn’t keep up with it,” Petty Officer 3rd Class Christine Bills told NBC News.
Disney Treasure, which was recently constructed, was headed from Eemshaven, Netherlands, to its future home in Port Canaveral, Florida, when it was unexpectedly called to duty.
The ship was on a journey “across the Atlantic Ocean … in preparation for its inaugural season this December,” according to a Disney blog posting Friday.
Treasure is scheduled to arrive in Florida on Tuesday morning and make its first planned passenger journey on Dec. 21, officials said. It is set to cast off for seven nights with stops in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Castaway Cay in the Bahamas.
The $1.1 billion Treasure has 1,250 passenger cabins, according to its German builder, Meyer Werft.
