In other news I get the paper now, and the story was in there about the Princess Cruise boat that sailed past people in distress, despite the concern of its passengers. I'll paste an article about it below that I found online. It got me thinking about complacency, bystanders, and the importance of speaking up against wrong-doings. I feel bad for the people who tried to speak up, wondering if they thought they could have done more. I can't imagine what the guy in the boat must have felt. though maybe on some levels I can; haven't we all felt ignored by people who could have stepped in to help but chose not to? Haven't we all, at some point, been one of those passengers on that boat, sailing past other humans who were barely clinging to life (either truly or metaphorically), presented with a critical moment of "hey I should maybe do something about this?" only to decide, "meh. not my problem. I wonder what's for lunch."
I hope that everyone touched by this loss honours the death of these men in their own way, by trying to be more conscious about stepping in, speaking up, when it is possible to give help, instead of comfortably sailing past on their ship. I hope that somehow some good comes from the loss of Adrian Vasquez's friends, and he can at least have some comfort knowing that the story of their mistreatment served as a global wake-up call to complacency and unconsciousness.
It made me think of this really great TED lecture I watched about how normal people end up doing bad things. Why do people do "bad" things? Phil Zimbardo has some good theories:
Anyhow, Adrian Vasquez, for what it's worth: I'm very sorry for your loss.
Cruise ship fails to heed fishermen's plea for help; 2 die
By JUAN ZAMORANO and JEFF BARNARD
The Associated Press
RIO HATO, Panama — A Panamanian man and his two friends had been drifting for 16 days in an open fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean when they saw a huge, white ship. They would be saved, they believed, and Adrian Vasquez began waving a dark-red sweater.
Meanwhile, bird-watchers with powerful spotting scopes on the promenade deck of the luxury cruise ship Star Princess saw a little boat adrift miles away. They told ship staff about the man desperately waving a red cloth.
The cruise ship didn't stop, and the fishing boat drifted two more weeks before it was found. By then, Vasquez's two friends were dead.
"I said, 'God will not forgive them,' " Vasquez said as he recalled the encounter in the waters off South America. "Today, I still feel rage when I remember."
On Thursday, Princess Cruises said a preliminary investigation showed that the passengers' reports of a boat in distress never reached Capt. Edward Perrin or the officer on duty.
If they had, the company said, the captain and crew would have altered course to rescue the men, just as the cruise line has done more than 30 times in the past 10 years. The Santa Clarita, Calif.-based company expressed sympathy for the men and their families.
On Feb. 24, the three men set out for a day of fishing from Rio Hato, site of a former U.S. Army base guarding the Panama Canal. They were on their way home, happy with their catch, when the motor died.
Vasquez recalled seeing the ship — "It was big; it was white" — on the morning of March 10.
Vasquez says he jumped up and began waving the sweater. He says he repeatedly raised it over his head and dropped it to his knees. Though near death, Elvis Oropeza Betancourt, 31, joined in, waving an orange life jacket.
" 'Tio, look what's coming over there,' " Vasquez recalled saying. "We felt happy, because we thought they were coming to rescue us."
Bird-watcher Jeff Gilligan, of Portland, was the first to see the boat. Judy Meredith, of Bend, Ore., looked through the spotting scopes and says she could see a man waving what looked like a dark red T-shirt.
"You don't wave a shirt like that just to be friendly," Meredith said. "He was desperate to get our attention."
Barred from going to the bridge to notify the ship's officers, Meredith said she told a Princess Cruises sales representative what she and Gilligan had seen, and the representative assured her he passed the news on to crew.
The bird-watchers said they put the representative on one of the spotting scopes so he could see for himself.
Meredith says she went to her cabin and noted the coordinates from a TV feed from the ship, booted up her laptop and emailed the U.S. Coast Guard. She said she hoped someone would receive the message and help.
When she returned to the promenade deck, she says, the boat was still visible.
But nothing happened. The ship kept going. And the little boat with the waving men disappeared.
"We were kind of freaking out, thinking we don't see anything else happening," Meredith said.
Gilligan says he couldn't bear to watch.
"It was very disturbing," he said. "We asked other people, 'What do you think we should do?' Their reaction was: 'Well, you've done what you could do.' Whether something else could have been done, that's a bit frustrating to think about."
Oropeza and Fernando Osario died. Vasquez eventually was picked up by a fishing vessel off Ecuador's Galápagos Islands, more than 600 miles from where they had set out.
Vasquez said he slipped his friends' bodies into the sea after they began to rot in the heat. Before his rescue, two rainstorms gave him fresh water to drink and he retrieved floating coconuts, he says.
Vasquez said he recognized their boat, the Fifty Cents, from the photographs taken by Gilligan with his 300mm lens.
"Yes, that's it. That's it. That is us," Vasquez said. "You can see there, the red sweater I'm waving and, above it, is the sheet that we put up to protect us from the sun."
Vasquez mentioned the ship in his first statement to Panamanian authorities when he returned to his country.
Back home in Oregon, Meredith says she couldn't sleep, wondering what happened to the men.
Reading a news story about a Panamanian rescued off Ecuador after 28 days in an open boat, she figured that was the boat she had seen.
Gilligan says he has had trouble coming up with an explanation for what happened.
"My only theory is the people on the bridge have seen a lot of fishing boats," he said. "And they were on a tight schedule and they let the schedule cloud their judgment."
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
Meanwhile, bird-watchers with powerful spotting scopes on the promenade deck of the luxury cruise ship Star Princess saw a little boat adrift miles away. They told ship staff about the man desperately waving a red cloth.
The cruise ship didn't stop, and the fishing boat drifted two more weeks before it was found. By then, Vasquez's two friends were dead.
"I said, 'God will not forgive them,' " Vasquez said as he recalled the encounter in the waters off South America. "Today, I still feel rage when I remember."
On Thursday, Princess Cruises said a preliminary investigation showed that the passengers' reports of a boat in distress never reached Capt. Edward Perrin or the officer on duty.
If they had, the company said, the captain and crew would have altered course to rescue the men, just as the cruise line has done more than 30 times in the past 10 years. The Santa Clarita, Calif.-based company expressed sympathy for the men and their families.
On Feb. 24, the three men set out for a day of fishing from Rio Hato, site of a former U.S. Army base guarding the Panama Canal. They were on their way home, happy with their catch, when the motor died.
Vasquez recalled seeing the ship — "It was big; it was white" — on the morning of March 10.
Vasquez says he jumped up and began waving the sweater. He says he repeatedly raised it over his head and dropped it to his knees. Though near death, Elvis Oropeza Betancourt, 31, joined in, waving an orange life jacket.
" 'Tio, look what's coming over there,' " Vasquez recalled saying. "We felt happy, because we thought they were coming to rescue us."
Bird-watcher Jeff Gilligan, of Portland, was the first to see the boat. Judy Meredith, of Bend, Ore., looked through the spotting scopes and says she could see a man waving what looked like a dark red T-shirt.
"You don't wave a shirt like that just to be friendly," Meredith said. "He was desperate to get our attention."
Barred from going to the bridge to notify the ship's officers, Meredith said she told a Princess Cruises sales representative what she and Gilligan had seen, and the representative assured her he passed the news on to crew.
The bird-watchers said they put the representative on one of the spotting scopes so he could see for himself.
Meredith says she went to her cabin and noted the coordinates from a TV feed from the ship, booted up her laptop and emailed the U.S. Coast Guard. She said she hoped someone would receive the message and help.
When she returned to the promenade deck, she says, the boat was still visible.
But nothing happened. The ship kept going. And the little boat with the waving men disappeared.
"We were kind of freaking out, thinking we don't see anything else happening," Meredith said.
Gilligan says he couldn't bear to watch.
"It was very disturbing," he said. "We asked other people, 'What do you think we should do?' Their reaction was: 'Well, you've done what you could do.' Whether something else could have been done, that's a bit frustrating to think about."
Oropeza and Fernando Osario died. Vasquez eventually was picked up by a fishing vessel off Ecuador's Galápagos Islands, more than 600 miles from where they had set out.
Vasquez said he slipped his friends' bodies into the sea after they began to rot in the heat. Before his rescue, two rainstorms gave him fresh water to drink and he retrieved floating coconuts, he says.
Vasquez said he recognized their boat, the Fifty Cents, from the photographs taken by Gilligan with his 300mm lens.
"Yes, that's it. That's it. That is us," Vasquez said. "You can see there, the red sweater I'm waving and, above it, is the sheet that we put up to protect us from the sun."
Vasquez mentioned the ship in his first statement to Panamanian authorities when he returned to his country.
Back home in Oregon, Meredith says she couldn't sleep, wondering what happened to the men.
Reading a news story about a Panamanian rescued off Ecuador after 28 days in an open boat, she figured that was the boat she had seen.
Gilligan says he has had trouble coming up with an explanation for what happened.
"My only theory is the people on the bridge have seen a lot of fishing boats," he said. "And they were on a tight schedule and they let the schedule cloud their judgment."
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