The stand-off between Cuban migrants, Customs and Border Control (CBC) and the Captain of the bulk carrier - MC Bulk Freedom, has ended without further incident.
CBC reports that on Thursday evening an ailing infant was taken from the ship along with the parents. Hours later the remaining migrants were removed and escorted onshore to a Government quarantine facility.
The circumstances surrounding the migrants' removal from the ship were not immediately clear and CBC promised an update on Friday.
The stand-off has been going on since earlier this week when the Cuban migrants who had applied for asylum in Cayman were traced to a location about 50 miles offshore after they went missing.
They had been fitted with tracking devices after completing a previous period in quarantine following their arrival in the jurisdiction in a fishing boat earlier this year.
The group said to number 13 persons including the infant was picked up at sea and transferred to the Panama-registered bulk carrier MV Bulk Freedom.
Once aboard the ship, they refused to disembark and to be returned to shore by the Cayman Islands coastguard.
The Captain of the MV Bulk Freedom had stated that he was unwilling to transport the migrants to any other port, as the ship was not equipped to safely accommodate them.
While efforts continued to persuade them to leave the ship which had interrupted its journey and was anchored in Cayman’s territorial, the CBC said they were provided with food, drinking water, baby food for the infant and other necessary supplies in keeping with international regulations.
CBC had also refuted claims by the migrants that they were being mistreated by the authorities in Cayman.
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