Boat crash kills one, search concluded for missing man
(CNS) UPDATE: Police say the search for man who was missing after the boat crash Sunday night has ended. One man died in the crash but police have not said whether the missing man was found alive. Two vessels crashed in the North Sound, off Prospect, at around 10pm. One of the boats capsized but all three occupants of that vessel were not seriously hurt and were able to swim ashore. In the other boat police found an injured woman and the body of a man, and a search began for a third man believed to have been on board.
The second boat sustained serious damage, police said. The woman was taken to hospital for treatment and a 70-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The missing person is a 49-year-old man from George Town. The search for him began last night by officers from the Cayman Islands Fire Service, the Joint Marine Unit, and the Air Operations Unit, but was suspended shortly before 4am due to poor visibility. The search resumed at 6am.
CNS has received unconfirmed reports that the missing man has been found. We will update as soon as we receive confirmation.
Category: Local News
STOP YOUR JUDGEMENT!! You have no idea what the situation was. You don’t know if there was a distraction or if there were running lights, if one captain was an amateur or one a professional. It could be as simple as speed / running lights / someone looking away at the wrong time etc. Stop with your armchair opinions. Nobody care what you think at this point. The deaths were unnecessary, period!
Not everyone drinks to access when they are out early or late or whenever. Stop judging. There are people and families involved.
Gossip Mongers all of you
This accident is such a shame and the loss of live I’d like to think could have been avoided.
I for one am at Rum Point and Kiabo every weekend boating, I alaway leave before sundown and if I’m going to e later I leave after 9pm whan all the crazy (ok drunk) boats are not travelling home.
Yes, I’ve had a few beverages in fact many more when running my boat. I have learnt to recently just chill on the booze and enjoy my day as there are so many more boats on our waters.
I’m not saying this is the case in this situation but I have money on it. Why do I say this, because it is very common and it is in our culture!
Lastly my condolences go out to the two families that lost thier loved ones.
This is 100% right on the money, if I’m coming in late at night I reduce my speed and have all my lights on, however there are those on the water with no nav lights travelling at high speeds with no regard for others on the water, as for the Marine Police they are more apt to stop the boaters who are doing the right thing then engage those who it is clear should be stopped.
I even had and occurrence of meeting up with a boat in the marina channel with zero lights on, no indication of there intended maneuver, we should pass to our lefts, but how do I know they are going to do that, this was at 5mph thank goodness nothing happened.
Nothing in the report said alcohol was a factor, but even if it was….. Is “boating under the influence” even an offence in Cayman? No point in doing breathalysers on the water if there is no means of enforcement.
This is it (no mention of booze or drugs):
https://www.caymanport.com/wp-content/uploads/PortAuthoritysafety.pdf
“Even though operating a vessel whilst under the influence of alcohol is not an offence specific to any CI law, drinking alcohol impairs your judgement and your kinetics and therefore affects your operations of the vessel, thus endangering your life, the lives of your passengers and maybe even other water user.”
https://www.rcips.ky/boating-safety-tips
Carry on, I guess…
It may not be an offense in and of itself, but the presence of alcohol can make other charges more likely, such a reckless and negligent act
Sensible consequences don’t yet exist….good luck with that.
What is drinking and boating? Is drinking and boating going all over the water? Some guys can drink and boat. Some guys can’t.
This happened at night. I am curious as to whether either of these boats were equipped with adequate lighting. Also seems to be quite a high speed crash that is close to shore…
All you have to do is anchor up at rum point on a Sunday to witness how little skills and knowledge the majority of boaters have on this island. Many cant even set an anchor in 3′ of water, so lord knows they don’t have a clue about right of way or any other maritime laws. Add alcohol to the mix and it only makes matter even more dangerous. The police need to patrol rum point and starfish point on their jetskis and breathalyze the captains at random.
the Pepper Jelly boat was docked up at Rum Point yesterday- and was still there around 6:30 pm
Because that makes for an enjoyable day out on the water!
It doesn’t make sense to enforce licenses because only the responsible boaters will suffer. Have enforced licenses stopped drunk car drivers?
Boat at your own risk, simple as that.
1:24 You are an idiot!
Respectfully, it’s the alcoholic weekend boat captains that are the true idiots.
How so? Please prove me wrong from a logical standpoint and not an emotional one.
will continue to happen unless police do more breathalyzing…sad….but as a native i no longer boat in north sound on weekends! not to say it played a role…but i have observed many under the influence driving boats in NS
Similarly, we stopped years ago for the same perils: too many family near-misses and close-encounters from high speed maniacs running full tilt and trim after dark with no nav lights or care, most likely drunk/high. Our family stopped dinner boating to Morgans Harbour and Camana Bay for the same reason. Too dangerous. These maniacs seemingly want to brush as close as possible to the illuminated boats for a thrill. People have once again died in North Sound and the RCIPS/JMU must be challenged to DO SOMETHING to protect the public and prevent repeat. The RCIPS have boats equipped with radar/FLIR and should be monitoring the North Sound for all illegal entry/exits anyway…where are they?
Under which gazetted law are the marine police permitted to stop, check and breathalyze boat operators ? What is the gazetted law listing the blood alcohol concentration limit for being behind the wheel of a vessel ? The penalties , under the law ? I am sure some attorneys well voiced in local civil law statutes , as it relates to the above , can chime in with some direction on the topic.
There aren’t any.
Its time to start requiring boaters to be licensed, boats to be registered and more police presence on the water particularly during weekends. Far too many boaters are inexperienced to handle the vessel in their control, and way too many boat under the influence. Its a miracle that this doesn’t happen more often. Condolences to the families of those lost.
You make good points, particularly if they concern commercial operators, but the facts of this tragedy, when they are known, may cause you to reassess the position about police and inexperience.
Condolences to friends and family.
Agreed 💯
Boating Regulations before all of that. The most obvious need: Third party boater’s liability insurance, doesn’t exist for exactly this tragic reason. The premiums would be unsustainably high. But there are no culturally adopted boating safety standards or regulations, no DUI enforcement, sporadically marked reef channels (some of them incorrectly lit), unlit CUC marker bouys, and a culture of impunity for the class privileged enough to own and operate watercraft – including senior police officers, MLAs, Rotarians, and various other Drinking Society members.