Cruise ship rescues 68 migrants en route to Spanish Canary Islands, five dead | World news

A luxury cruise ship has rescued dozens of migrants who were trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands. The fishing boat became stuck in rough seas, killing five people, Spanish authorities and the cruise operator said on Thursday.

The archipelago has become the main entry point for illegal migrants from Africa to Spain in recent years, and the route is also the deadliest. Migrant rights group Walking Borders said last week that nearly 5,000 migrants had died at sea on this route in the first five months of 2024.

The bulk carrier Philipp Oldendorff sighted the boat 440 nautical miles (815 kilometers) south of the island of Tenerife on Wednesday and provided first aid to the migrants while the cruise ship Insignia was diverted to the area to pick up the survivors, the coast guard said in a statement.

The Insignia, owned by Miami-based Oceania Cruises, also managed to recover three bodies from the boat. However, due to bad weather, two more bodies could not be recovered, so the ship left behind a tracking device to facilitate the search.

The small luxury cruise ship, with a capacity of 670 passengers, has been on a 180-day world cruise since January and is expected to arrive in Tenerife at 7am (06:00 GMT) on Friday.

“The safety of life at sea is of utmost importance to all seafarers,” said a spokesman for Oceania Cruises, part of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

“We can confirm that the Insignia rescued 68 people from a ship in distress between Cape Verde and Tenerife, brought them on board and provided them with medical assistance as well as food, drink, clothing and a safe place to rest,” the spokesman added.

A Spanish Coast Guard ship was on its way from the Canary Islands on Thursday to pick up the Insignia and then locate the shipwreck.