Carnival Valor rescues 3 men and a cat

Carnival Cruise ship Carnival Valor came to the rescue recently of 3 men and a Cat after their trawler was severely damaged by heavy wind and surf just off the coast of Cuba.

The Valor answered the distress call from the vessel that was carrying three U.S. citizens and Smudge the Cat. According to reports they had departed Key West on January 20th and were headed out towards the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. The Carnival Valor was en route to Miami after a seven day Caribbean voyage and amazingly the ship managed to squeeze in the rescue and went on to arrive on schedule on Sunday morning.

Wes Demott was one of the men rescued from the trawler and he had the following to say: “the boat i left behind was also my home. Priceless belongings and memories are all gone. I am thankful to be back on dry land, at the end of the day it’s just stuff. Valuable stuff, but stuff”.

He also went on to add "After several unsuccessful attempts to raise anyone on the radio, I did get a radio response from the Carnival Cruise ship VALOR, which offered its assistance. With my vessel coming apart, no hope of making port, and no tow vessels responding, I reluctantly requested that they take us aboard as we abandoned ship.”

"Masterful seamanship by Captain De Angelis had us aboard quickly, and I want to sincerely thank him and his wonderful crew for showing true human kindness for us as mariners and, well, just people. They also took good care of Smudge the Sea Cat, who I managed to get off board along with my American flag, which I'll proudly fly again one day soon on another vessel."

Well done to the Carnival Valor for coming to the rescue!