MIAMI — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Dolphin rescued four adults, one child and one infant from the sinking 65-foot vessel, Imagination, approximately 13 miles east of Miami Beach, Fla. Thursday.
Ziada Pascual, 61, Pedro Pascual, 60, Chris Murray, 43, and Amarillys Pascual, 39, along with the child and infant, all from Miami, left Bayside Marina in downtown Miami Thursday morning and were heading toward Bimini, Bahamas when the vessel started sinking. Murray notified search-and-rescue coordinators at Coast Guard Sector Miami via VHF Channel 16 about 10 a.m., reporting that the vessel was taking on water in the engine room.
The Cutter Dolphin and a Coast Guard Station Miami Beach small boat responded to the Mayday call. The crew of the Dolphin arrived to the sinking vessel first along with a Good Samaritan and pulled all the people off the Imagination as the vessel was sinking. The six people were then transferred from the Dolphin’s small boat to a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue for transport to Bayside Marina. No injuries were reported.
“This case demonstrates the life-saving benefits of having the right safety equipment aboard your boat,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chris O’Neil, public affairs officer for the Seventh Coast Guard District. “These boaters had the right kind of life jackets, the right number of life jackets and a VHF marine radio. Their access to this life-saving gear and their use of it, helped save their lives today.”
