Thirteen Cuban refugees were picked up by Berge Danuta on 27 June in the Gulf of Mexico.

Berge Danuta was on her way from Houston to Kårstø when crew spotted a small open boat filled with people.

“At 15:58, local time, we noticed a tiny little boat ahead,” says Captain Kåre M. Landsverk. “When we got closer, we counted thirteen people onboard. They had no engine or radio, just one paddle.”

The boat had drifted off course, and according to the refugees, they had been at sea for 30 days. Instead of going straight north from Cuba to Florida, they had drifted westwards and were in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico when they were spotted; 260 nautical miles from Florida and 235 nautical miles from Cuba.

”The first thing we did when we arrived alongside was to give them food and water by using the heavy line,” says Captain Landsverk. After having sent notice to the US Coast Guard (USCG), all the refugees were taken onboard Berge Danuta and the vessel proceeded on course. Early next morning the refugees were transferred to the USCG vessel Knight Island.

”It is difficult to imagine that they could survive in that boat for 30 days, but considering their soars and infections, and a couple of them being very weak, they had to been at sea for a long time,” says Captain Landsverk. “The weather was fortunately good in this period. They would not have survived a storm.”
 
The captain noted that the refugees were hopeful when they were transferred to Knight Island. “They had a hope, they were alive.”

This is not the first time he has rescued people at sea. In April 2004, while being master on Berge Challenger, three people were saved from a sail boat in the Atlantic Sea. The sail boat sank just an hour after they had rescued the sailors.