MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – 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.
The sailboat had stalled and lost wind, drifting into the barge’s path, prosecutors said. Because of the obstructed visibility and lack of a lookout, Insua did not see the vessel before the barge struck it.
The counselor and two children managed to escape after being dragged under the barge. Three children were trapped in the wreckage and drowned.
The victims were identified as 7-year-old Mila Yankelevich of Argentina, 10-year-old Arielle Mazi Buchman and 13-year-old Erin Ko, a Chilean national who had recently moved to the United States. The Miami-Dade medical examiner ruled their deaths accidental drownings. All of the children were wearing life jackets at the time of the collision.
A forensic review of Insua’s cellphone revealed internet activity during transit, including at or near the time of the collision.
“This information alleges a preventable loss of life on our waterways, including the failure to follow basic maritime safety rules and cellphone use during transit at or near the time of the collision,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones in a press release.
Toxicology results for all individuals aboard both vessels returned negative, the Coast Guard previously confirmed.
If convicted, Insua faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
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