The Miami Yacht Club and its Youth Sailing Foundation, along with the owners of a construction company, are facing a lawsuit from the parents of a girl on the sailboat that was hit by a barge near Miami Beach last month. Three young sailing campers on that sailboat drowned, while two others and their camp counselor survived.
The family suit, as first reported by CBS News Miami’s partners at the Miami Herald, claims the barge’s crew was reckless and careless.
CBS News Miami reached out to the company that owns the barge, who said that the vessel and its crew are crying like parents but “absolutely tried to avoid” crashing into the sailboat.
What the lawsuit alleges
The parents of a nine-year-old girl — one of five summer campers from the Miami Yacht Club — onboard the sailboat filed claims against more than the barge’s owner, naming the yacht club and its Youth Sailing Foundation, along with Waterfront Construction.
The lawsuit claims that the barge pushed by the tugboat “made no attempts to slow down or change its course… recklessly and carelessly continued forward… causing a devastating collision that tipped, capsized and sank the sailboat.”
Attorney pushes back against the allegations
The attorney for Waterfront Construction disagrees with the accusations. He told CBS News Miami that the crew includes a master with 12 years of experience and a lookout on the job with nine years.
In a statement to CBS News Miami, the lawyer said, “everybody on the barge is a family man and father, and terribly upset at the loss of this incident that never should have happened.”
The lawyer told CBS News Miami that the lookout saw the sailboat and a regatta of other sailboats, along with two Miami Yacht Club safety boats with engines, about 800 yards away from the portside.
The barge company’s lawyer also told CBS News Miami that he is confident his clients acted reasonably.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
