One Dead, Three Missing After Boat Capsizes Near Alcatraz During Memorial Service
A 50-foot cabin cruiser carrying 20 people capsized in San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island on Tuesday afternoon, killing one person and leaving three others missing as Coast Guard crews continued search efforts overnight.
The vessel, a three-deck cabin cruiser called the Volare based out of Stockton, California, was carrying passengers described by officials as mostly family members who were participating in a memorial service for a loved one when it was struck by a wave in rough water and began taking on water. San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said the emergency call came in around 3:30 p.m., roughly 600 yards off Alcatraz Island, initially reported as a boat fire. Crews arriving on scene found no evidence of fire, but discovered the vessel almost fully submerged with its motor still running and leaking fuel.
The Rescue
San Francisco Police Marine Unit officers were first to arrive and found a man in the water in "severe distress," according to Crispen. Officers pulled him into their boat and began CPR, but he was pronounced dead after being brought to shore at Gashouse Cove Marina. He has not yet been publicly identified. A dog that had been aboard the vessel also died.
In total, 16 people were rescued from the water, and three of them were taken to a hospital with injuries sustained from falling overboard; all three were released by Wednesday morning. Search and rescue efforts, involving divers, helicopters, jet skis and roughly a dozen boats from multiple agencies, continued through the night for the three passengers still unaccounted for. The U.S. Coast Guard said crews were treating the operation as a rescue rather than a recovery mission, using thermal imaging and tide-modeling technology to guide the search, which expanded into open ocean west of the Golden Gate Bridge given the boat sank in a shipping channel roughly 120 feet deep.
What May Have Caused It
Officials have not yet determined the exact cause of the capsizing. Crispen said witness accounts described rough seas at the time, saying "there were rough seas, and apparently the vessel began to take on water and was turned over in the bay." Local boating experts offered mixed assessments of the conditions.
Charles Jennings, owner of Bay Area tour company Bay Voyager, said the size of the vessel relative to the water conditions stood out to him: "I would be concerned to see a boat of that size out there with that many people in that wind out there." Longtime San Francisco Bay sailor Mike Peterson described the incident as rare, noting that wind and tide can create especially choppy conditions in the afternoon. "It would take something happening very rapidly to cause a boat like that to go down and people like that to end up in the water," he said.
Response From Officials
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie called the response effort "an all-hands-on-deck search and hopefully rescue." San Francisco Supervisor Stephen Sherrill said, "This is obviously a tragic situation. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families." The American Red Cross said it deployed to assist survivors with immediate needs including dry clothing, food and emotional support, adding that its disaster mental health and spiritual care teams remain available to those affected.
Authorities said the vessel is believed to have launched from the St. Francis Yacht Club, though a person who answered the phone there said the club had no information about what happened. Officials were expected to share additional details Wednesday as the search for the three missing passengers continued.
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