Captain pleads guilty in boat crash that killed 3 girls from Miami sailing camp

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MIAMI (AP) — A tugboat captain has pleaded guilty to causing a deadly Miami collision that killed three girls from a sailing camp last summer.

Yusiel Lopez Insua, 47, of Miami, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to seaman’s manslaughter, according to court records. The charge carries up to 10 years in federal prison, but prosecutors have recommended a year in prison followed by six months of home detention as part of a plea agreement. A judge will make the final decision.

“Three children lost their lives in a tragedy that never should have happened,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones said in a statement. “Yusiel Lopez Insua ... admitted that his criminal failure to follow basic maritime safety rules caused this deadly collision. Our hearts remain with the children’s families and everyone whose lives were forever changed that day.”

According to court records, Lopez Insua was piloting a 25-foot (8-meter) tugboat pushing a construction barge across Biscayne Bay on July 28, 2025. The 108-foot-long (33-meter-long) barge was loaded with construction debris, bringing its total weight to about 149 gross tons.

The vessel's forward view was obstructed by a deckhouse and crane, and no crewmember had been assigned to serve as a lookout, officials said. This prevented Lopez Insua from seeing a sailboat carrying a 19-year-old counselor and five girls, ranging in age from 7 to 13, from a nearby sailing camp that had lost wind and stalled in the tugboat’s path, investigators said. The barge ran over the sailboat, submerging it beneath the barge’s hull.

The counselor and two girls managed to escape, but three girls became trapped beneath the wreckage and drowned, officials said. A forensic review of Lopez Insua’s cellphone revealed internet activity while the tugboat was underway, including at or near the time of the collision.

The children were in their last week of camp, according to the Miami Yacht Club.

Across the U.S. in 2024, there were over 550 deaths in recreational boating, but only 43 were caused by vessels crashing into each other, according to Coast Guard statistics.