A Manx captain has been hailed a hero after sailing an extra 4,000 miles during the pandemic in South America to get his passengers safely back home, writes Jess Ward.

For the first seven days of the Azamara Pursuit’s cruise from Buenos Aires in Argentina to Lima, Peru, it was smooth sailings for Captain Carl Smith, a ’proud Manxman’ originally from Peel, and for those on board.

However, with the ever-evolving news of coronavirus, the cruise ship’s crew encountered challenge after challenge as ports started to lock down and borders began to shut.

The cruise, which was meant to last 21 days from March 2, eventually ended on March 29 in Miami - 4,000 miles away from the intended final destination.

Captain Smith said he is very fortunate to work for the company, which is owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

’They provided support and assistance at every turn. We would have run out of food, fuel, even medications for our guests without their support,’ he said.

’Ports simply did not want to accept us or our guests, despite the fact that we had been at sea for weeks without touching land and effectively quarantined onboard in our own little cocoon of safety.

’Azamara managed not only solving all of these issues, but also helped us with clearance from Chile, transiting the Panama Canal, with another refuelling and provisioning stop at Balboa, and a safe berth in Miami at the end.’

Guests, including two Manx people, disembarked the vessel on March 30 and 31 and were transported on mostly privately-chartered planes - all paid for by Azamara to get guests safely home.

The Manx passengers returned safely to the Isle of Man and have gone through a 14-day quarantine period,’ he said.

Some guests wrote to the company to recognise the ’heroic efforts of Captain Carl Smith and his crew’.

They added: ’Captain Carl has both literally and figuratively sailed us through troubled waters, all the while displaying exemplary leadership.’

Currently the crew - 320 members - are refuelling in Miami and are not allowed to disembark.

The company is chartering planes for the crew, aiming to start getting them home next week.

Captain Smith has lived in the Czech Republic for the last 10 years with his wife, who is a native there, and four children.

The family often visits the island, with Captain Smith having visited just before Christmas.

The captain was born and raised on the farms around the west of the island and attended Queen Elizabeth II High School.

He started his sailing career with Shell Oil Tankers, manned by an office in Castletown, where he worked for seven years until he qualified as a second in command.

He worked for the Isle of Man Steam Packet aboard the Peveril in 1997 as a second officer.

’A couple of weeks later, I was promoted onto the Seacat Isle of Man as first officer. I worked for two seasons on three different Seacats, and during the winter worked for Fyffes banana boats, also managed from the island,’ he said.

In 1999 he passed his masters licence and started onboard cruise ships, working from the bottom.

He became third in command six months later and took a job in Monaco as a safety and quality superintendent running a fleet of ships.

Quitting that job, he became a staff captain and eventually found a ’beautiful’ vessel called Minerva II, where he worked for four years.

In 2006, he became first command onboard easyCruise One - the cheapest cruise ship in the world at the age of 33 while living in Peel with his wife and son.

After a year, he was recruited to his current company as captain with Azamara.

He became the first Manxman to bring a cruise ship to the island on the Azamara Quest in 2013.

The cruise was specially titled ’Captain Carl’s Homecoming Cruise’.

’It was sold out and a huge success,’ he said.

’Since then, Azamara has taken all three [of its] ships to the island and I had the remarkable honour of bringing the Azamara Pursuit (former Minerva II) into service in 2018 as senior captain, with our very first port of call being Douglas!’

He told the Courier that he has ’joked time and time again’ about writing a book about his experiences during his career.

’It would have made interesting reading in its own right without any entries for 2020,’ he said.

’I now think that the first 30 years of my career will simply be the prelude to our epic 8,067 nautical mile voyage from Buenos Aires to Miami in March 2020.’

He added: ’While I know there are many unknowns in our future, this I do know - it’s important that we support and take care of each other, remain positive and work towards a bright future for all of mankind.’