BVI News

UPDATE: Charter boat collision caused vessel to sink, passengers unharmed

The vessel bearing the Moorings’ logo which was seen sinking in waters near Baughers Bay on Tortola on Sunday, June 30 is now safely out of the water and transported to a boatyard.

This was confirmed by Vice President of Virgin Islands Search and Rescue (VISAR) Phil Aspinall.

He told BVI News the area where the vessel was seen and photographed sinking is not where the incident originally took place.

“It was in much deeper water and we moved it to there so that the salvage company could do their job properly,” Aspinall said.

He added: “That’s standard procedure. If we can’t get the equipment necessary to get it out of the water then we do our best to prevent it from sinking any further …. The easiest solution is to park it on a beach to stop any further damage to the boat.”

The VISAR vice president said the vessel began taking on water after colliding with another charter vessel at the entrance to Road Harbour on Tortola.

He said passengers were on board at the time of the collision.

“The boat that was injured the most — all the passengers were removed safely, not by us, so we didn’t launch. We launched the salvage company and the two charter companies in question to go and retrieve their boats but we made sure all the people were safe which is our job,” Aspinall told our news centre.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ARTICLE (Sunday, June 30)

A vessel bearing the logo of a local charter-yacht company, The Moorings, has been spotted sinking in waters near Baughers Bay on Tortola.

The vessel, which appears to be a catamaran, is believed to have started taking on water sometime before midday on Sunday, June 30.

Minutes before 1 pm when BVI News arrived at a vantage point where the downed vessel was clearly visible, nearly half of it was already submerged.

While it is not yet known whether persons were onboard when the vessel began to sink, at least two other vessels were observed at the scene and appeared to be offering support.

It is not clear what caused the mishap and efforts to contact the Virgin Islands Search and Rescue — more commonly known as VISAR — were unsuccessful up to press time.

BVI News will provide further information when it becomes available.

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33 Comments

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  1. Ken says:

    What happened to the people on it? What time did this happen? Who reported it? What does the Moorings say about the boat? QUESTIONS…….

    Like 1
    Dislike 24
  2. Heather says:

    Anyone know the name of the vessel?

  3. One eye fowl cock says:

    Ken and Heather two idiots daaaa

  4. Leslie says:

    I heard it was two catamarans had had a collision between Roadtown and Peter Island. One nearly sank completely but they were able to get it to a beach in town. All the guests were thankfully uninjured. How incredibly terrifying.

  5. Actually says:

    Baugher’s Bay isn’t on Tortola. It is next to it.

    Dislike 22
  6. Wow says:

    That’s what renting with a credit card those.
    No clew what you doing, but money to pay
    Maybe not enough space 😉

    Like 5
    Dislike 9
  7. Unbelievable says:

    How did this happen????broad daylight how do you not see another big boat in your path. Were they blind. Why did no one alert the “capitán” lol wonders never cease. Thankfully no one was hurt. Just can’t visualize this happening.

  8. Slaw says:

    Government should do what Europe does, you can’t rent boat unless you have a sailing qualification.

    Like 7
    Dislike 7
  9. Duh says:

    If a sailing qualification were required, BVI would be even poorer.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Sails up? No spotter?

  11. Mark says:

    Maybe one party didn’t understand the rules of the road and turned into the other boats path. Road Town Harbor is a fairly wide open inlet.

  12. Anonymous says:

    I heard it was a Moorings captain

  13. Capt. Nas says:

    I think it would be wise to find out what was the root cause of the accident before we go on changing the laws governing the Charter Industry. The Moorings is the industry leader and the company was started in Tortola. The Charter business and all related industries employ many people and is a very important part of the BVI. I am glad no one got hurt and apparently no damage to the environment. I surely hope the learnings from this accident can make the whole industry safer worldwide.

  14. Anonymous says:

    What is the name of the VOYAGE vessel?

  15. Joe Zehr says:

    What is the name of the VOYAGE vessel?

  16. Mike says:

    Was the Osprey damaged?

  17. Voyage says:

    Osprey has some damage but nothing much she has a next chapter in five days voyage vessel was built strong

  18. Larry says:

    There was a captain and 6 passengers. I was listening to the whole thing play out.

    • Capt. Nas says:

      Was it a Collision or did the vessel hit anything?

      • Larry says:

        They were sort of mum on that. The captain just kept calling “mayday”, and the authorities kept asking where the boat was. After 20 minutes they told him to have the passengers get in the dingy. The captain replied that (yes, after 20 minutes of “mayday, mayday, mayday”) they were just getting their life jackets on. That had me worried right there.

  19. Logan says:

    I was on one of the boats with my family when we hit them. Their captain was below deck and we could not turn in time. We ended up hittin them in the side and they started sinking. all we had was a scratch and our boat was fine.

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