30 people, 1 dog rescued after boat sinks off Miami

FWC: Captain not licensed

MIAMI – At least 30 people and one dog were rescued after a 45-foot boat began taking on water and sank Sunday evening.

According to officials, the boat was 200 yards off of the Miami Seaquarium when the incident occurred.

Multiple response boat crews and marine units from partner agencies responded to the scene, as well as an MH-Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Miami.

According to Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the vessel was a private boat that may have been running charters where people were paying the operator to rent trips.

|Video of rescue

"The captain was not licensed, so he shouldn't have been operating the boat," said Pino. "He shouldn't have been taking money from passengers to transport them anywhere."

Pino said if the captain was taking money from passengers, he could face charges.

Officials are urging mariners in the area to exercise caution as the boat remains partially submerged in 6 to 8 feet of water.

"The interagency cooperation between the responding agencies and good Samaritans in the area was incredible and allowed us to quickly rescue 30 people from the water in a matter of minutes," said Lt. Mike Cortese, commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Miami Beach.

One person was reported to have been sent to the hospital due to a leg injury. No deaths other injuries were reported.

FWC is looking into he possibility that the boat may have been overloaded, but officials are still investigating the how it capsized.