Coast Guard navigation rules could affect Miami barge vs. fatal sailboat crash case

David Goodhue, Miami Herald on Oct 31, 2025

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MIAMI — U.S. Coast Guard investigators Thursday recommended the Justice Department charge the operators of the push tug and barge that rammed into a Miami Yacht Club summer camp sailboat, killing three young girls, with manslaughter.

But with the Coast Guard’s detailed Rules of Navigation, which dictate maritime law, prosecuting that charge may be challenging, considering the types of vessels involved in the July 28 tragedy in Biscayne Bay. A 60-foot barge being pushed by a tugboat ran over a 17-foot sailboat of five campers and a camp counselor, killing three girls and injuring two others.

Right-of-way rules

Sailboats in most instances have the right-of-way over most engine-powered vessels, according to the Coast Guard’s rules. But there are exceptions, one of them being with vessels that don’t have the ability to quickly maneuver out of the way of sudden obstacles.

The attorney for Waterfront Construction, the Miami company that owns the tug and barge that hit the sailboat, said the sailboat crossed paths with the much larger, hard-to-maneuver barge. The operator simply could not stop in time, nor move out the sailboat’s way, attorney Lorenzo Palomares said following the Coast Guard’s announcement on its investigation.

Mila Yankelevich, 7, Erin Victoria Ko Han, 13, and Arielle ‘Ari’ Mazi Buchman, 10, died in the aftermath of the collision, which occurred in Biscayne Bay around 11:15 a.m. between Hibiscus and Monument islands off Miami Beach.

Justice Department investigators will have to consider if the tug and barge qualify as “a vessel which, from the nature of her work, is restricted in her ability to maneuver as required by these Rules and is therefore unable to keep out of the way of another vessel,” the Coast Guard rules say.

The navigation rules also say such vessels include ones towing other vessels because they are restricted in “their ability to deviate from their course.”

Lookouts on boats

Days after the accident, civil maritime attorneys weighed in and explained that the crash could be the result of the barge not having a proper lookout.

Coast Guard rules dictate that a lookout must be on board. “Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision,” the rules say.

The barge was carrying a large crane, stationed in front of the tugboat captain’s pilot house. Eyewitnesses interviewed by the Herald said they saw a barge crewman warning the tugboat operator only at the last moment before the crash.

Palomares said a crewman with eight years on the job was serving as the lookout that day, and that the captain of the tug pushing the barge had 12 years experience on the vessel without incident.

The tug and barge were only traveling at 3.5 knots, said Palomares, adding that all crew members passed a drug and alcohol test immediately following the crash.

The attorney said the sailboat was with a caravan of other boats from the Miami Yacht Club’s summer camp, and that the captain of the tug had eyes on the group the whole time, even turning slightly to ensure he stayed out of their way. But he did not see the sailboat, which was separated from the group, Palomares said.