Australian media reports that a cruise ship came to the aid of two recreational boaters who were adrift in a dinghy after they abandoned their vessel off the coast of Victoria on Tuesday, March 21.
The Victoria Police said that the two individuals, a man and a woman, were on board a boat that got into difficulty near the state's Wilsons Promontory National Park.
The two abandoned the vessel, got into a dinghy that was attached to their boat, and deployed an emergency beacon. A police air unit located the dinghy and the joint rescue coordination centre (JRCC) contacted a nearby cruise ship that was in the area.
The Bermuda-flagged Grand Princess, operated by US-based Princess Cruises, subsequently arrived on-scene and deployed a rescue craft. The survivors were later brought on board the cruise ship without injury.
The two boaters had earlier left the town of Queenscliff in southern Victoria. Their vessel ran out of fuel while near Skull Rock at around 22:00 local time on Monday, March 20, prompting them to abandon ship.
