Boating accident off Miami leaves one person dead, disrupts cruise traffic in PortMiami
An early morning boat crash Sunday resulted in the death of one boater and left another seriously injured.
The resulting investigation and recovery of the vessel prompted the Coast Guard to enforce a “safety zone” at PortMiami, with the channel closed and cruise traffic halted. The Coast Guard said midafternoon Sunday, some 11 hours after the accident, that the channel was cleared at would be reopened.
A port spokeswoman said the closure disrupted travel plans for 33,000 passengers scheduled to arrive and depart Sunday.
The Coast Guard said the restriction was to support crews clearing the channel of the obstruction from the fatal collision near Government Cut. By early afternoon, the Coast Guard said it had authorized the reopening of the south channel “to resume maritime transportation system operations into Port Miami.” Just after 2:30 p.m. The Coast Guard said crews had “successfully recovered the sunken vessel & removed the obstruction in the north channel.”
The port, in a separate statement on Twitter, said the closure of the PortMiami channel was affecting arrival and debarkation of passengers on Carnival Celebration, MSC Seascape and NCL Escape.
And it will have spillover effects on Sunday afternoon departures.
Port spokeswoman Suzy Trutie said Carnival Celebration had 6,216 to debark and about 6,100 to embark. The website cruisemapper.com showed the Celebration ending an eight-day cruise to the southern Caribbean and scheduled to depart Sunday for a seven-day eastern Caribbean cruise.
The NCL Escape had 5,081 passengers scheduled to debark Sunday and approximately 5,000 to embark, Trutie said. Cruisemapper.com said it was returning from a seven-day Caribbean cruise on Sunday and scheduled to depart on the same itinerary.
The MSC Seascape had 5,358 to debark and about 5,250 embark, Trutie said.Cruisemapper.com said it was ending a seven-day cruise to the western Caribbean and departing for a seven-day eastern Caribbean cruise.
A spokesperson said Carnival has “been in direct contact with our guests and will continue to provide them updates as we learn more information from officials.”
This is what Carnival told Celebration passengers in a Sunday afternoon text:
“We remain in touch with port officials. Salvage crews are working to remove the accident vessel from the channel. We do not know when the process will be completed, but the ship is in position to head into the port once we are cleared to do so,” Carnival said. “Please do not proceed to the cruise terminal until you receive our final update. This is not the way we expected to start your cruise, and we appreciate your patience and understanding.”
Carnival told passengers it hoped to further update passengers by 3 p.m.
The port advised people to contact cruise lines. PortMiami said Carnival cruise passengers could text “CCL3” to CRUISE (278473) for information. The port said the number for MSC is 833-578-6488 and NCL is 866-234-7350.
Greg Chin, a spokesperson for Miami International Airport said MIA notified domestic airlines about the situation at the port, and they are waiving rebooking fees for cruise passengers affected by the situation at the port.
At about 3:40 a.m., Miami-Fire Rescue was notified of the collision between a 30- to 32-foot boat and the Fisher Island Ferry that transports people and vehicles between Fisher Island and Miami Beach, an agency spokesperson told local TV stations.
The exclusive island is accessible only by boat.
Workers on the ferry pulled one man out of the water. He was taken to Ryder Trauma Center. On his way to the hospital, the injured victim said his friend was on the boat and missing, said Public Information Officer Pete Sanchez.
Divers began searching for the second man, who was found dead, Sanchez said.
The Coast Guard said that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was conducting the investigation.
