(SNO) — Quick response from the Marine Police Unit may have saved 12 lives from a sinking ship, HTS is reporting.

According to HTS, the ship was traveling to Saint Lucia from Martinique when it began going under, some three miles north of Pigeon Point on Wednesday.

When the Marine Unit was alerted, the reaction was swift.

“We immediately dispatched two vessels to the area to render assistance with de-watering equipment,” Superintendent Finlay Leonce, commander of the Marine Police Unit, told HTS.

He said upon arrival, 12 passengers were taken from the sinking vessel and taken to the Rodney Bay Marina.

With the passengers safe, the Unit turned its attention to saving the stranded vessel.

“The team from the Marine Unit assisted the captain of the vessel in de-watering the vessel,” Leonce explained. “That vessel has since been taken to the Rodney Marina where she presently sits on dry dock.”