A TOURIST boat carrying more than 40 tourists, many of them American, sank off the Mexican coast late Sunday local time.
The ship left the port of San Felipe on Saturday and got into difficulty during an electrical storm. It capsized yesterday, according to port officials and the navy.
El Mexicano newspaper reported that all but nine of 42 passengers on board were rescued by the local coast guards and the Mexican navy. The US Navy also took part in the rescue operation.
However, Reuters reported that 44 people were on board and that 23 people were missing. Five Mexicans and sixteen Americans were reportedly rescued.
The accident occurred off Punta Bufeo, near Puertecitos, 140km south of the northern city of San Felipe, on the Baja California peninsula.
Looks like the crew left everyone to die while taking the lifeboat!
"The crew, consisting of 17 Mexicans, are safe because "we know made it to the lifeboats" and got several small islands scattered in the area, according to Salvador Rene Rosado, director of state Civil Protection service in the Mexican city of Mexicali .
The wreck occurred between Punta Puertecitos buffet, about 100 km south of San Felipe, Rosado said.
The search for survivors, which sent helicopters joined the Coast Guard of the United States resumed the 08HOO (15HOO GMT) "
The boat that went down was the "Erik." Sounds like a horrible incident. I went fishing on that boat back in 2004 on a 6 day trip out of San Felipe. The air conditioning was not working in most of the staterooms and the crew seemed disorganized. When we returned to San Felipe, we spoke with the boat owner, Gustavo Velez back at the dock. He seemed disinterested in our concerns. The next year we went on the Tony Reyes boat and it was night and day compared to the Erik. The Tony Reyes was just a better, well organized outfit.
I had the pleasure of meeting the crew of the Erick 4 years ago at Refujio, they were polite and friendly, its a shame anyone was lost in this accident, but to find fault back when you went fishing is something else:moon:
OK....I have question for all the fishermen on here....who have been out in the area where the boat capsized....
I used to do some sailing in the Atlantic, off Long Island (New York) in a 26 footer. Went thru a bunch of rough water. The boat that capsized was built for the North Sea use, which has some pretty bad weather and water conditions.
How does this type of boat capsize so quickly...according to the reports....after being hit by two waves????? Poor condition of the boat? The crew/captain asleep at the helm? Any comments?
I have no idea how the boat sank and I am not blaming anyone. Most of the crew was polite and freindly,,,the operation in general was disorganized. This accident is horrible for the town of San Felipe and for anyone involved in the sport fishing industry.
Wishamako.....sounds like you still have a chance to run into the crew of the Erik again at some point......the seven missing fishermen....maybe not so much....unless you have dive gear.
I had the pleasure of meeting the crew of the Erick 4 years ago at Refujio, they were polite and friendly, its a shame anyone was lost in this accident, but to find fault back when you went fishing is something else:moon:
"The crew, consisting of 17 Mexicans, are safe because "we know made it to the lifeboats"
They said on the radio this morning that the 7 missing are Americans, but they still have hope of finding them because the water is warm and calm. I dunno, not so good in my opinion. This is very sad.
I'm inclined to agree with above - there have been many postings (not good) about the Erik over the years on the fishing boards. On the other hand, Tony Reyes boats always seem to get high marks.
Waking up in that situation, panic sets in, and if the crew were not much help......don't need to say much more....panic kills....
I heard an interview from the wife of one of the passengers who swam to shore....she said that he was a strong swimmer. How many of the others were good swimmers, or in any kind of shape to make it a couple of miles in rough water?
One of the crew members of the Erik said The San Felipe Harbor Master had closed the Port and informed the Captain of the Erik (twice) that the weather was approaching and they should not leave... but they left port anyway.
This is why it is so important to choose a boat and Captain that puts safety and risk above money. I wonder how many other boats cancelled and their customers were standing on the dock watching the Eric going out and cussing their Captain for cancelling?
IF...and that is an "if"...the port was closed, how was the boat permitted to leave?
I'm surprised that the Mexicans let the US Coast Guard assist in the search/rescue. I recall in the affair a couple of years ago where the boat capsized with that group (church group??), that the US offered the assistance of some military helicopters, and were turned down.
IF...and that is an "if"...the port was closed, how was the boat permitted to leave?
A "closed" port really only means that the Harbor Master has sent the danger flag up the pole and declared that unsafe seas are approaching; and they can mandate that all ships at berth be double or triple-roped, etc, but there is never a big chain strung across the entrance to the harbor that says "closed".
If a skipper orders his crew to untie and sets sail, then he is master of his vessel.
The thing that kind of amazes me is that it was 14 hours before anyone on shore knew this has happened. I'd think that any ship doing commercial business with passengers like that would have an EPIRB device. I have no idea what the regs are in Mexico for passenger vessels, but you can bet they have them in the USA.
Not that an EPIRB would have changed much, just showed them where to find the bodies, I suppose. Might have gotten rescuers there much faster.
The thing that kind of amazes me is that it was 14 hours before anyone on shore knew this has happened. I'd think that any ship doing commercial business with passengers like that would have an EPIRB device. I have no idea what the regs are in Mexico for passenger vessels, but you can bet they have them in the USA.
Not that an EPIRB would have changed much, just showed them where to find the bodies, I suppose. Might have gotten rescuers there much faster.
That was my reaction also. A damned long time before anyone on shore knew there was a problem. You'd think someone was close enough to the radio for a quick "Mayday", maybe they did and were not heard. Wonder if there was even anyone in the wheelhouse at the time.
The other odd thing is that the ship was reported as being build for North Sea conditions. Anyone wanna bet it was not maintained or perhaps modified?
A real tragedy for sure. Anyone else remember the boat out of Penasco that exploded and burned loaded with US fisherfolk a couple of years back?
The thing that kind of amazes me is that it was 14 hours before anyone on shore knew this has happened. I'd think that any ship doing commercial business with passengers like that would have an EPIRB device. I have no idea what the regs are in Mexico for passenger vessels, but you can bet they have them in the USA.
Not that an EPIRB would have changed much, just showed them where to find the bodies, I suppose. Might have gotten rescuers there much faster.
This is a commercial operation. They don't have a radio on board to send out a mayday?
They were fishing; went to move the boat. I don't think they used the blower -or- they had a gas leak. When they hit the starter - BOOM! Sent the big guy laying on the back of my boat flying 15-20 ft. in the air when the motor cover blew. He had been sitting on it. Likely he saved the rest of the guys from more serious injury during the explosion. There were only minor injuries. One of the crew had cracked ribs, the old guy had some burns on his face. I was more worried about the big guy. We could barely get him in the boat and he was in shock, just laying spread-eagle on the deck. I had the guys get him sitting upright and he finally got some color back and came around.
Since I had the largest boat on scene, I decided to take them all. I called into shore on the VHF with a mayday and the bomberos met us near the harbor; also had several ambulances waiting at the dock. The response from all involved on shore was outstanding, but had there not been other boats in the area that saw the smoke (as we did), things could have turned out a lot differently for those guys!
It's like I've always said - when doo-doo goes wrong out there, it goes wrong in a real hurry!
I used to take a boat out of San Carlos called the EL Duke. It was a converted trawler like this boat which made it very top heavy. We almost went over a couple of times. One time we were hit by a following sea and it pitched us sideways and dumped all of our dive gear overboard. Fun trip because you sleep on the upper decks in the open air. The next trip we brought our own epirb and made a ditch bag with an attache bouy. I would still do it again.
Does anyone remember the pink Margarita (or some name like that)....it's still sitting off Benito Juarez the last time I looked. I believe the woman owner did some creative cutting....and turned a trawler into a death trap in heavy seas!
Read that the search continues for the missing tourists.....even brought in a C130.
Has anyone ever seen a 40 ft. wave in the Sea of Cortez?...particularly within 2 miles of shore? I've read reports of 100 ft. waves in the the Sea of Cortez, but would expect that to be further south. I'd be interested to know the condition of the boat if they ever find it, or bring it up.
The Mexican navy has already found the boat. According to one survivor she did not roll completely over but took on water and sank like the Titanic one end first.
Saw on the news last night that there are reports of the captain being arrested....
I hadn't heard that, but it doesn't surprise me. Ultimately (in any country), the captain is responsible for the safety of the vessel, crew, and passengers. That captain screwed up big time, especially if the reports are true that the harbor master had closed the harbor and told the Erik twice not to go out.
If it were the US, the ambulance chasing lawyers would already be scouring the survivors to bring lawsuits. Since it is in Mexico and the survivors (passengers) are American, I doubt there's any hope of civil liability cases being filed. Then again, I'm not an expert on Mexican law; but you just don't hear about people suing because of a hangnail like they do here in the US.
Interesting account of the tragedy from one of the survivors here. They say nobody has been arrested, but that was as of yesterday.
It will certainly be a black mark on all of the San Felipe fishing operations, even though the other operators had nothing to do with this captain's poor decision that cost the ship and lives. Very sad.
I can't say for sure but I believe the booking agent for that boat is in California. If so, that may open them up to legal action in the United States.
Why would that surprise you, Zona? No different than this forum where people poo-poo narco shootings, dead bodies, kidnappings, and other horrific events as "You're perfectly safe, nothing to see here, move along." They have a vested interest and bad news is not good for business.
If you say it in enough places, enough times, people might actually start to believe you. They wouldn't post it on the Internet if it wasn't true, right?
I can't say for sure but I believe the booking agent for that boat is in California. If so, that may open them up to legal action in the United States.
Ric
I'm not sure that a booking agent can be held liable for the action of the item he booked, IE a booking agent books a condo, he is the middle man, he collects and forwards the money for the transaction or he uses the condos booking system and the condos system collects the money from the client and then pays the booking agent a fee. The booking agent did what he was supposed to do for the condo and the condo did what they were supposed to do for the agent. If the mutual client of the booking agent /condo has a horrible time or gets hurt on the property, or dies, I dont see liability going back to the agent, unless.....the booking agent made claims on behalf of the condo outside of his field of authority to make the sale and those particular claims were in someway responsible or had a part in the damage to the mutual client. I would think that that reasoning would be the same in this case too. But what do I know I am just a salesman.
I've had it beat into my head for 20 years. Real Estate Law 101: If you know it, you have to tell it. If you should have known it and you don't tell, you're screwed. If you do know it and don't tell (or worse, lie) you are really screwed. Therefore, either don't vouch for bad information (Real Estate or elsewhere) or so some research, disclose everything and if the people involved decide to go on anyway, make sure it is in writing that you warned them. I won't be surprised to see lawsuits in both Mexico and the USA. When did we stop being responsible for our own actions? This isn't like me, something must have just struck a chord...
They've never heard of or seen a red flag in San Felipe.....I guess they operate differently there...because I have seen the red flag flown a few times in Penasco! One is calling it an "act of God"....as if God sent the captain out after he was warned not to!
The more you read about this thing the more it pisses you off.
"The men raced out of the room. To their dismay, they noticed that the boat’s entire crew of 16 already was assembled on deck, wearing nice life vests. Tsurumoto said the boat’s cook handed him a life vest that had broken straps."
"Levine said the crew “knew how to save themselves, except for the cook, who handed out life jackets. And he couldn’t swim.” http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=53870&page=8
The more you read about this thing the more it pisses you off.
"The men raced out of the room. To their dismay, they noticed that the boat’s entire crew of 16 already was assembled on deck, wearing nice life vests. Tsurumoto said the boat’s cook handed him a life vest that had broken straps."
"Levine said the crew “knew how to save themselves, except for the cook, who handed out life jackets. And he couldn’t swim.” http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=53870&page=8
You just gotta love this quote from the article:
"The group left San Felipe Thursday morning armed with a letter from U.S. consulate officials that urged their safe passage home. The letter was necessary because the men lost their passports, driver’s licenses and everything else they had with them when the boat went down.
Nevertheless, they said they were hassled at the U.S. border by officials who told them they hadn’t been made aware of their situation."
The more you read about this thing the more it pisses you off.
"The men raced out of the room. To their dismay, they noticed that the boat’s entire crew of 16 already was assembled on deck, wearing nice life vests. Tsurumoto said the boat’s cook handed him a life vest that had broken straps."
"Levine said the crew “knew how to save themselves, except for the cook, who handed out life jackets. And he couldn’t swim.” http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=53870&page=8
Another quote from article:
"The Coast Guard is sending her daily emails containing maps of where the search has been conducted so far. She said she was told that divers also will attempt to reach the sunken boat once the search shifts into “recovery mode.”
My question is, why in the world wouldn't they send divers down immediately in order to either confirm or eliminate anyone who may have gone down with the ship???
Maybe they don't have the gear in the area to go down about 250-300 ft. That's what I've heard is the depth where the boat went down (i'm surprised if that's the case so close to shore).
As more and more info comes out...it appears the captain should have his ass nailed to the wall. From the reports of the survivors, the stern hatches were left open in rough seas, the pangas, stacked 3 high were also uncovered....as the waves broke over the boat, water filled the stern and the pangas...and the boat went down stern first....doesn't sound like it rolled over like the initial reports.
