IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Panama fisherman adrift at sea sues Florida cruise line for not helping

The lawyer for a Panamanian man who watched two companions die while surviving at sea for 28 days in their small disabled boat says he's suing a U.S. cruise line because one of its ships failed to help.
Image: Panamanian fisherman Adrian Vazquez, 18, resting at his home in Rio Hato, near Farallon, Panama
Fisherman Adrian Vazquez, 18, resting at his home in Rio Hato, near Farallon, Panama, six days after his rescue.Alejandro Bolivar / EPA, file
/ Source: The Associated Press

The lawyer for a Panamanian man who watched two companions die while surviving at sea for 28 days in their small disabled boat says he's suing a U.S. cruise line because one of its ships failed to help.

Attorney Edna Ramos says the lawsuit alleging negligence by Princess Cruise Lines has been filed in a Florida state court on behalf of Adrian Vazquez.

Vazquez and companions Fernando Osorio and Elvis Oropeza drifted at sea with a broken motor for 16 days before seeing a cruise ship approach on March 10. Although the men called for help, the ship did not stop.

Princess Cruises has said passengers never told the ship's captain they saw a boat.

Osorio and Oropeza died later. Vazquez was rescued on March 22 near Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.