13 Rescued From Sinking Mega-Yacht Off Fort Lauderdale's Coast
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – The United States Coast Guard said 13 people were rescued from a 106-foot yacht that sank in the waters off Fort Lauderdale Monday evening.
According to Sea Tow Marine Towing and Salvage, the Serena III yacht sent out a distress call shortly before 6 pm Monday about the boat taking on water and less than two hours later the yacht was gone.
"It just gradually took on more and more water and then it went down by the stern and rolled," said Sea Tow Captain Tim Morgan. "Then it went under the waves."
According to the Coast Guard the yacht with 13 people onboard sank about 13 miles east of Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Fortunately the Coast Guard rescued everyone onboard and there were no injuries, CBS4 was told.
The Coast Guard tweeted out some photos of the rescue and the safe passengers:
#breakingnews @USCGSoutheast rescues 13 from yacht minutes b4 sinking... All safe and taken to Miami via CG Cutter. pic.twitter.com/Y8FZu0wowO
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) January 26, 2016
Morgan and three Sea Tow boats managed to pluck a wave runner from the yacht as well as a life raft that was deployed off the yacht to rescue people onboard. Sea Tow says several good samaritan vessels nearby the Serena III also took in passengers.
Morgan says it appeared a mechanical problem might be to blame. He says it's fortunate that the ship was relatively close to shore so Coast Guard could rescue passengers. And in the dark of the evening, with water rushing on board this yacht, Morgan says it was impossible to save.
"The amount of water it was taking and how quickly the boat sank, really, I don't think much anybody would have been able to do," Morgan said.
The Coast Guard continues to investigate the sinking.