Tragedy was averted on Saturday in the Port Canaveral channel as two jet skiers were pulled onto a rescue boat just seconds before they would have collided with a cruise ship.
According to an account at Cruiseline.com, one of the young women fell off her jet ski. When she attempted to get back on, it tipped over. Strong winds pulled the women, who were on spring break, near the bow of the massive Carnival Magic, a 1,004-foot long ship with 130,000 gross tonnage.
Fortunately, Port Canaveral Harbor Pilot Capt. Doug Brown, who was navigating the ship through the channel, noticed that the girls were in trouble and acted quickly. He alerted the Brevard County Sheriff Marine Unit, which happened to be nearby. Brown worked with the captain of the Magic to maneuver the ship away from the water skiers and boats while Deputy Taner Primmer, in the marine patrol boat, pulled the girls to safety mere seconds before they would have been sucked under the ship.
A passenger on the ship recorded the whole terrifying episode and posted it on YouTube:
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