A Carnival Cruise ship veered off course to rescue 27 Cuban migrants who were stranded on a rickety wooden boat in the waters between Florida and the island nation, according to a report.
Carnival Paradise had just set sail from Tampa when it spotted the desperate US-bound migrants about 20 miles off the coast of Cuba,
The ship set a course to intercept their decrepit craft with the high-seas rescue taking place around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Fox News reported.
The cruise ship was bound for Roatan, Honduras when it spotted the Cubans.
All 27 were taken aboard the ship, where they were fed and given medical checkups.
The Carnival crew notified the US Coast Guard and officials in Roatan.
In a statement, Carnival put the number of rescued migrants at 28 and said the ship was still scheduled to arrive in Honduras on Monday but did not provide additional details.
Earlier this month, the US Coast Guard intercepted a ramshackle home-made boat off the Key West shoreline — and shipped all 16 migrants on board back to Cuba, officials said.
The barely-sea-worthy craft — the bow of a small wooden boat with the rest made of foam — was spotted by an eagle-eyed good Samaritan and picked up by the Coast Guard cutter Charles David Jr. on April 7, according to a press release.
The migrants were taken aboard the cutter and shipped back to Cuba, the Coast Guard said.