Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
By: EFE Posted Jun 25, 2023, 16:48 pm EDT
A maritime accident that left one dead and one person injured forced the partial closure of the Port of Miami this Sundaya move that left some 16,000 cruise ship passengers waiting for hours at sea before being able to disembark at the terminal in this South Florida city.
According to the Miami Fire Department, shortly after 3:30 a.m. this Sunday a 30-foot-long boat collided with a passenger ferry leaving Fisher Islandfor reasons that are still under investigation.
Due to the impact, the two passengers on the boat were thrown into the water.. One person was able to be rescued and transported to a local hospital while the other passenger was found lifeless by a Miami Police dive team. after about five minutes of searching.
The incident forced the US Coast Guard to close the area to maritime traffica measure that affected the operations of the Port of Miami in a day of great activity, given that Sundays are the days when the cruise ships that conclude their journeys arrive and those that begin their trips set sail.
As the port pointed out today on its Twitter account, the temporary closure ordered by the authorities prevented passengers from the Carnival Celebration, MSC Seascape and NCL Escape cruise ships from reaching land at the scheduled time.
According to the local newspaper Miami Herald, there are some 16,000 people who travel aboard these three cruise ships, largely national tourists who now see their connections at Miami International Airport threatened.
A similar number, 17,000 passengers, have tickets in hand to board these vessels, which were to set sail this afternoon, but their situation is uncertain and they are kept informed by the cruise lines.
The Coast Guard informed at noon today of the opening of the “south channel” of the port, used mainly for cargo vessels, and a couple of hours later he finally announced the end of the closure of the portafter the completion of the recovery tasks of the sunken boat.
Keep reading:
- High-speed train Miami-Orlando will enter service on September 1
- Farm and construction workers in Miami demand a law that protects them from heat
- Authorities issue health alert in two Florida counties due to malaria cases