Crew members on board the Carnival cruise ship Vista helped to rescue six men stranded in the ocean near the Dominican Republic, Carnival Cruise Line announced Wednesday.

According to Carnival, the men had been aboard a small cargo vessel that capsized overnight. The Dominican Republic Coast Guard responded to the scene and is leading the search for six other crew members from the vessel who were still missing.

"Carnival Vista’s officers under the direction of Captain Paolo Severini immediately altered the ship’s course, in coordination with Carnival’s Fleet Operations Center in Miami, when an onboard monitoring system received an emergency alert," Carnival said in a statement. "The ship’s officers then spotted six men on a life raft and stopped to rescue them and bring them on board."

The Vista was able to return to its previous route after the rescue, and was scheduled to visit Amber Cove Wednesday as part of a six-day itinerary that departed Sunday from Port Canaveral.