Princess Cruises launches investigation over castaways

Princess Cruises has launched an investigation after claims that one of its ships failed to stop to help a fishing boat adrift on the Pacific Ocean.

Two of the castaways, Panamanian men, died at sea. A survivor, fisherman Adrian Vasquez, was later rescued after 28 days.

Three passengers on the Star Princess claim they saw the castaways and had alerted staff, but had been unable to persuade the ship to change course.

In a statement, Princess Cruises said it "deeply regrets" that the two men perished and has been investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

It said preliminary results of the investigation have shown that there appeared to be a breakdown in communication in relaying the passenger’s concern to the Captain nor the officer of the watch.

"Understandably, Captain Perrin is devastated that he is being accused of knowingly turning his back on people in distress. Had the Captain received this information, he would have had the opportunity to respond," said the statement.

"We all understand that it is our responsibility and also the law of the sea to provide assistance to any vessel in distress, and it is not an uncommon occurrence for our ships to be involved in a rescue at sea. In fact, we have done so more than 30 times in the last ten years.

"We deeply regret this incident and are continuing our investigation to fully understand the circumstances."