Two women riding a personal watercraft encountered tense moments after almost being hit by a cruise ship Saturday at Port Canaveral, and a deputy is being hailed a hero for saving their lives.

Women fall off personal watercraft in front of cruise ship

Incident happened at Port Canaveral on Saturday

Deputy Taner Primmer, Capt. Doug Brown hailed as heroes

The two spring-breakers, 19-year-old Skylar Pentasuglia and 20-year-old Allison Garrett, both of Princeton, West Virginia, were riding a personal watercraft when one of them fell off, tried to get back on and ended up flipping the watercraft.

As the two tried to right the craft, the wind pushed them into the Port channel and directly into the path of the outgoing cruise ship Carnival Magic, according to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

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"Due to the narrow width of the Port’s channel, there was very little room to maneuver the ship; however, Port Canaveral Harbor Pilot Capt. Doug Brown slightly veered the ship when (SeaPort Security Marine Deputy Taner Primmer) steered his boat into the path of the ship and quickly pulled the two girls onboard the Sheriff’s Office Safe Boat. Once safely onboard, Deputy Primmer immediately backed the Safe Boat out of the ship’s path and into an area of safety," the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The Sheriff's Office said it's likely the two women could have been pulled under the ship, possibly costing them their lives if it were not for the actions of Brown and Primmer.

"I knew I had to get the girls out of the water. At the time, they were right in the path of the cruise ship," Primmer, with the BCSO Marine Unit, said Monday.

Recalling the incident, Primmer said he got a call from the on-duty harbor pilot, Brown, about two women who had fallen off their watercraft near Jetty Park. As they struggled to get back on it, it flipped.

"You could tell they were getting pretty panicked," the deputy said.

Brown worked to guide the cruise ship away from the women as best he could.

"Get in! Get in!" he screamed from the deck.

The deputy pulled the women on board as the shadow of the 100,000-ton cruise ship bears down on them.

"We did not realize just how close it was until we got on that boat," Pentasuglia said.

The two women posted a message to Primmer on the Brevard County Sheriff's Office's Facebook page, which mentioned the rescue.

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Since the accident, Pentasuglia and Garrett said they have realized how close they came to being seriously hurt.

"It was so scary. It was so close, and it was so scary. I didn't imagine it to be that close, because we were so far away from that boat in the beginning, and it just all happened so fast. We couldn't get back on, and it just kept coming," Pentasuglia said.

Pentasuglia explained the personal watercraft was her brother's. Saturday was their first day of their spring break at Port Canaveral, and their group decided to ride out to the ocean. Unfortunately, their watercraft took on water and flipped, and they were unable to get back on board. Meanwhile, they found themselves being pulled into the channel and in the path of the cruise ship.

The women said they feel lucky to be alive and are grateful for Primmer for thinking quickly.

"If it weren't for him, we might not be here now."