Video shows boat spinning out of control off Nixon Beach. Woman killed, man hurt
Video footage taken in the aftermath of two people being ejected from a boat off Key Biscayne Saturday morning, with one dying, shows the twin-engine center console spinning in circles before marine patrol officers brought the unmanned vessel under control.
Both people on board were thrown from the SeaVee Z, The woman, 33-year-old Claudia Balmaseda Orellanes, was dead when first responders pulled her from the water, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is investigating the incident. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics took the man, 54-year-old Neil D. Schawbe, who was operating the boat, to the hospital, the FWC added.
The FWC has not said how the two people ended up in the water off the Nixon Beach sandbar, leaving the boat without an operator. Martin Luciani, a captain with TowBoatUS, who responded to the scene, said both were hit by the vessel’s propellers.
The sandbar off Key Biscayne is a popular and crowded boating spot on the weekends.
READ MORE: Woman killed in boat accident near Nixon Beach Sandbar in Biscayne Bay, FWC says
A person on a personal watercraft found them floating in the water, Luciani wrote on Facebook, where he posted the video showing the SeaVee Z quickly spinning in circles. The footage also shows a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue boat crew using their vessel to try stopping the vessel from spinning.
The incident happened around 10:20 a.m. near Crandon Park Marina, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. Schwabe’s condition was not immediately available Monday. Schwabe is from Coconut Grove, the FWC said, and Balmaseda Orellanes lived in Coral Gables.
The video was shot by another TowBoatUS captain, Enzo Ramos, who told the Herald the person on the personal watercraft said the man’s leg was badly injured. And, the woman was missing for a few minutes before she was found by first responders, Ramos said.
Not shown in the video is when officers finally tamed the out-of-control boat, Ramos said. Officers used their boat to get alongside the center console, throwing ropes at the engine, before one officer hopped on the vessel “and turned it off,” Ramos said.
This story was originally published March 29, 2026 at 5:10 PM.
