Three dead and 13 missing after boat sinks in Caribbean as P&O cruise ship helps rescue survivors clinging to hull

A P&O cruise ship with Brit tourists on board is helping search for passengers of a boat after it sank in the Caribbean.

At least three people have died and 13 are still missing after the stricken vessel capsized off the coast of St Kitts.

A P&O cruise ship, The Britannia, is assisting the coastguard's efforts.

It is understood 32 people were on board the vessel, with 16 rescued.

A spokesman for P&O Cruises told The Sun: "We are working with the coastguard to lead the search and rescue operation with another ship."

The 30ft boat is said to have been "dangerously overcrowded" when it started sinking, according to local media reports.

Local reports claim the vessel was en route from Antigua to St Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands.

It got into trouble only 12 nautical miles off the coast of St Kitts, and was spotted at 3am by a passing luxury yacht.

Terrified passengers were seen clinging to the edge of the vessel as the rescue was underway.

Officials in Antigua are leading the search for those still missing in the water.

Anthony Comrie, head of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force, said most of those rescued were from Cameroon.

He said: "My government has been making every effort to be helpful to these brothers and sisters from Africa who were marooned on Antigua, including by granting them residence and the opportunity to work."

The boat was stolen in Antigua, and 16 people on board were rescued, including two Antiguans, Comrie added.

The nationalities of those who died has not yet been released.

"All of the facts surrounding today's calamity are not yet known," Comrie said.

It comes only hours after a passenger on the same cruise ship died while snorkelling in the Caribbean with his family.

The tourist arrived in St Kitts on Monday on board the cruise ship Britannia on Monday.

He got into difficulty while snorkelling with his wife and daughter as part of a group activity at Peninsular Cove.

The dad was taken to shore where a fellow tourist performed CPR, but could not be saved and died at the scene.

Authorities are carrying out an autopsy as it is unclear whether he drowned or died of natural causes, reports .

The Britannia is the flagship of P&O's fleet with 13 bars and 13 restaurants on board, as well as 1,837 cabins.