ISLA MUJERES, Quintana Roo – A cruise ship on a seven-day voyage through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea rescued two men Monday who were found afloat in a kayak off the Mexican coastline.
Carnival Cruise Line said the crew aboard the Jubilee spotted the duo several miles off the coast of Isla Mujeres, an island in the northwest Caribbean Sea.
The cruise company said the pair apparently became stranded after their boat sunk, forcing them into a plastic kayak.
The two men appeared to paddle next to the cruise ship before climbing a ladder onto the more than 1,100-foot Jubilee.
While aboard the Carnival ship, the company said the duo were treated by medical staff and given food.
Mexican authorities met the cruise ship in the Caribbean, where the men were transferred to another boat and brought ashore.
The Mexican Navy has not released the identity of the two or said what caused their boat to sink.
Sea surface temperatures in the northwest Caribbean are around 80 degrees, which is plenty warm to support life for an extended period.
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Carnival Jubilee departed Galveston, Texas, on Jan. 27, before making stops in Roatan, Honduras and Costa Maya, Mexico.
According to Carnival, the rescue did not delay their excursion, which is expected to wrap up on Feb. 3 back in Texas.
The Carnival Vista, which sails in the eastern Caribbean, rescued a dozen people after their cargo vessel sank in December off the Dominican Republic.