Two girls dead, two others critical after barge hits sailboat in Biscayne Bay: Coast Guard

Two girls died and two others were in critical condition after a large barge crashed into a summer-camp sailboat with five children and a camp counselor aboard in Biscayne Bay near Hibiscus Island in Miami Beach on Monday morning, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

A third girl on the boat was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital and was unresponsive as of Monday afternoon, said Petty Officer 3rdh Class Nicholas Strasburg, a Coast Guard spokesman. A fourth girl was also in critical condition at Jackson.

A fifth girl was evaluated by paramedics at the Miami Yacht Club, where paramedics determined she did not need further care, according to Lt. Pete Sanchez of Miami Fire Rescue.

Authorities did not identify the children. On Monday night, the Coast Guard said a 7-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl died. In critical condition at Jackson were an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl. The two who were rescued were a 12-year-old girl and a 19-year-old female.

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The boat, part of a sailing camp at the Miami Yacht Club on Watson Island, capsized around 11:15 a.m. between Monument and Hibiscus islands, Miami Beach police said. A large barge hit the sailboat, causing the barge to go over the top of the sailboat, said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the state police agency investigating the crash.

READ MORE: Does sailboat have right of way against barge in crash? Coast Guard rules to decide that

The Miami Yacht Club confirmed the crash on its Instagram account Monday:

“The entire MYC family is devastated by this terrible tragedy,’’ Emily Copeland, the Miami Yacht Club’s commodore, said in an email to the Herald.

The club is working with the FWC and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Coast Guard, she added.

The FWC issued a statement Monday morning: “On July 28, [FWC] officers responded to a two-vessel boating accident in Miami-Dade County, along with multiple law enforcement partners. Preliminary information indicates that a barge struck a sailing vessel carrying six people near Star Island in Miami Beach. All six victims, an adult female and five juveniles, were recovered from the water and transported to a local hospital for treatment.”

A witness described the scene to NBC6: “There was a massive boat and it hit one of the small sailboats and all the kids went flying off,” said Enzo Piffartti, who attended a sailing camp.

As of Monday night, the Coast Guard said the sailboat remained submerged underneath the barge, and its crews are enforcing a 250-feet safety zone around the scene.

Scene at the Miami Yacht Club

On Monday afternoon, a steady stream of cars lined up at the white gates of the Miami Yacht Club, a public club located on Watson Island off the MacArthur Causeway. Many were driven by parents arriving to pick up their children from camp. As cars exited the gates, a few carried away teenagers who appeared distraught.

A diver exited the Yacht Club in full dive gear Monday afternoon and told the Herald about a conversation he’d had two hours earlier with a staff member at the Yacht Club. The staff member told the diver that a large iron platform barge with cranes on top towing a boat had driven over the small vessel with the children and camp counselor onboard after the smaller vessel crossed in front of the barge.

“They didn’t see the boys in the boat moving in front of them and the barge drove right on top of them,” said the diver, who did not want to be identified.

Police vehicles, some arriving with flashing lights, entered and left the club throughout the afternoon. The club, founded in 1927, was closed to all non-members, including media. Miami Yacht Club staff and management declined to speak to the Herald or confirm any details about the capsized vessel, the children and counselor aboard, or the camp program involved.

Yachts and sailboats remained tied along the docks outside the club, and few vessels appeared to be floating out in Biscayne Bay. There appeared to be little boating activity overall on Monday afternoon on the waters near the Miami Yacht Club.

Hibiscus Island is a Miami Beach island in Biscayne Bay across from PortMiami.

Sailboats and right of way

The question of which vessel had the right of way is likely to be a major component of the Coast Guard’s investigation into the crash, said Brett Rivkind, a longtime Miami maritime personal injury attorney

In his initial read of the situation, Rivkind said it appears to him that the tug boat pushing the barge and the crew of the barge had the responsibility to avoid hitting the much smaller sailboat. In addition to maintaining a proper speed in an area known to be popular with recreational boaters, the barge should have also had someone operating as a lookout for anything in its way.

“Failure to observe the sailboat in time to take evasive action in time points to the clear liability of the tug and barge operator,” Rivkind said. “There should have been a proper lookout and a proper speed maintained to not get close enough where you’d have take evasive action like that.”

The company that owns the barge has not been identified by authorities.

This story was originally published July 28, 2025 at 12:51 PM.