The Coast Guard is now
leading the investigation into how a boat capsized on the Hudson River
-- leading to the death of two people -- but a boat captain who
works on the river every day believes the boat involved was simply overloaded
with passengers.
Capt. Paul Dauriac spoke
with
News 12 New Jersey's Chris Keating, telling him, he warned the
Coast Guard several years ago that an accident just like this could happen if
certain operators went unchecked.
The accident brings about
the question as to whether or not there were too many people on board. Dauriac
says he's been very vocal with the Coast Guard for five years about what is
going on in New York Harbor, calling traffic on the river the Wild West -- lot
of boats, no speed limit and strong current.
In this case, a 24-foot
boat with 12 people on board capsizing on the river was, in his words --
inevitable.
Lindelia Vasquez, 47, and Julian
Vasquez, 7, became trapped under the boat and did not survive.
"We see them, you've
got 10 people on a boat that's 26-feet long. It defies logic,” says Dauriac. “I
sent the Coast Guard an email five weeks ago telling them you've got a 26-foot
boat out, there's 30 knot winds, something is going to happen."
Dauriac owns and operates
four charter boats for his company, SailAwayNewYork.com. He says there are too
many of the smaller so-called bare-boat charters that are operating unchecked
by the Coast Guard on the Hudson River.
Coincidentally, the Coast
Guard put out a release on boating safety, in which it said, “Overloading can
cause the boat to ride lower in the water, reduce the vessel's stability and
greatly increase the chance of capsizing.”
The release suggested that
people “be on the lookout for illegal charters. If the vessel is carrying six
or more passengers, it must have a valid Coast Guard Certificate of
Inspection."
The Coast Guard has not yet
named the charter, or the captain, involved in the crash.