Captain charged with manslaughter

A Miami tugboat captain has been charged with seaman’s manslaughter nearly nine months after his barge crushed a sailboat carrying children from a youth sailing camp in Biscayne Bay, killing three and injuring others, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Yusiel Lopez Insua, 46, was piloting a tugboat pushing a debris-laden barge across Biscayne Bay on July 28, 2025, when it struck a small sailboat near Hibiscus Island carrying a counselor and five children from the Miami Youth Sailing Foundation.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the tugboat’s forward view was obstructed by a deckhouse and crane, and no one aboard was assigned as a lookout. – Full report