COSTA Cruises’ Costa Pacifica has come to the aid of a boat filled with Syrian refugees, which issued a distress call off the coast of Italy last Friday.
The cruise ship responded to the message, changing course to help with the retrieval of about 120 people on the boat which was about 100km off the Calabrian coast.
37 of the Syrians were taken on board the Pacifica which was joined at the rescue site by an Italian Coast Guard patrol vessel.
Costa said “the whole operation was carried out in complete safety, in accordance with Coast Guard instructions”.
Costa Pacifica was en route from Piraeus in Greece to Civitaveccia, where it arrived on schedule at 9am the next morning.
