More than 300 refugees left adrift in the Mediterranean Sea were rescued by a passing ocean liner but then refused to leave the deck of the ship that rescued them, leading to an hours-long standoff with Cyprus authorities.

A reported 345 immigrants – mostly from Syria – were spotted by a Salamis Cruise Lines ship Thursday off the coast of Cyprus, according to Al Jazeera. The refugees, bound for Italy, were crammed into a small fishing boat battered by rough conditions on the Mediterranean, according to the BBC.

“The ship probably comes from Syria with civilian refugees,” Cyprus’ defense ministry said in a statement, citing “bad weather conditions in the area” that necessitated a rescue effort, according to Agence France Presse.

The ship’s crew saved the imperiled refugees in what Salamis Cruise Lines Managing Director Kikis Vassiliou described as “quite a difficult operation,” according to the BBC. The rescuing vessel sailed to a nearby port in Limassol, Cyprus, cutting short a vacation cruise to Haifa, Israel for a reported 300 Russian passengers.

Once the ship docked, all 700 paying customers aboard the vessel disembarked, according to the BBC. More than 60 refugees left willingly, but the rest remained on the ship and demanded to be taken to Italy.

“We did our [utmost] to save their lives, to give them food, support and now they want to destroy this company,” Vassiliou said, noting that the detour and hotel expenses for its paying customers will cost Salamis Cruise Lines hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to AFP.

Italy has become a popular destination for the spiraling number of immigrants fleeing violence in countries like Syria. The refugees taken to Cyprus continued their standoff with local authorities through Thursday night and into Friday morning before they were finally convinced to leave the ship willingly, according to Al Jazeera. At least some of the refugees were bused to Cyprus' Kokkinotrimithia refugee camp.



Rescued refugees disembark from cruise liner in Cyprus, dropping demand to go to Italy http://t.co/Rpftl22wVz pic.twitter.com/iKjX3XpQYS — BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) September 26, 2014



A passenger on the ship who spoke with one of the refugees said the group had fled Syria and had been at sea for three days, according to Al Jazeera. More than 50 children, 20 babies and several pregnant women were among the fishing boat’s passengers when the vessel’s captain abandoned ship, leaving the refugees stranded at sea.

“The captain of their boat made a phone call, and a speed boat came and took the captain,” passenger Chrystalla Eflatsoumis said, according to Al Jazeera.

At least eight of the refugees were suffering from dehydration when they were picked up Thursday, according to AFP. Others had “minor” problems, but the fishing boat’s passengers were reportedly rescued “smoothly and without any injury,” according to the Cyprus defense ministry.

This year has already been one of the Mediterranean Sea’s deadliest, as immigrants flee violence and unrest in the Middle East and Africa for Italy and other parts of Europe. More than 2,500 displaced people have died or gone missing so far in 2014, according to the U.N.’s refugee agency. And more than 100,000 refugees have been rescued at sea so far this year, according to The Associated Press.