A red and a blue ship have just collided in the Caribbean. Apparently, the survivors are marooned.
Why this joke works
Stranded in a Mixed Color
Marooned normally means stranded in an isolated place, especially after trouble at sea. Maroon is also the dark reddish color suggested when red and blue combine. Tell the collision like a brief news report and keep “Apparently” dry and official. The serious maritime meaning arrives first; the ships' colors then reveal why “marooned” was chosen. Maroon is commonly described as a deep reddish color, while marooned sailors are stranded away from help.
A closer look
A Shipwreck Outcome Is Also a Mixed Color
“Marooned” means stranded in an isolated place, a plausible result when ships collide in the Caribbean. Maroon is also a dark reddish color, and combining red with blue can produce a purplish shade. The news-report tone makes the maritime meaning feel complete before the color premise justifies the unusually specified hulls. “Survivors” keeps the line humane by avoiding a claim that the colors describe injuries.
Fact behind the joke
Color Mixtures Depend on Light or Pigment
NASA explains that light uses additive mixing: red, green, and blue light combine toward white. Paints and inks use subtractive mixing because pigments absorb wavelengths, so combining red and blue pigments commonly produces purple or violet mixtures whose exact shade depends on materials. The joke calls the result “maroon,” but there is no universal single color produced by every red-and-blue collision.