MIAMI – A tour boat carrying 10 Royal Caribbean Cruise ship passengers sank near Cozumel, Mexico, last week, sending people scrambling for help from nearby vessels.
Although no one was seriously hurt in the accident, it comes less than month after another Royal Caribbean Cruise ship excursion ended in tragedy. Twelve people -- including a Coconut Creek woman -- were killed and 20 were injured in a bus crash Dec. 19 in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean said six passengers from their ship Celebrity Equinox and four from the Navigators of the Seas were on a certified scuba dive excursion near Cozumel when the boat began to take on water. All the guests were safely returned to their ships, the spokesperson said.
Both ships departed from Port Miami in late December expecting a week-long vacation with rest and relaxation, but that vacation took a quick turn for the worse when a tour boat they were on began to sink.
A video posted on YouTube shows the bow of the boat just before it is fully submerged while rescuers pull passengers aboard another vessel.
Passenger Thiago Koga told Local 10 Tuesday that he had been on several scuba diving trips but never experienced something like this.
“That was insane. I was trying to figure out what was happening and keep myself safe,” Koga said. “After I jumped in the water, I just saw the other boat and just swam.”
He said lost his cell phone and wallet because of the accident.
Royal Caribbean said the Celebrity Equinox and the Navigators of the Seas returned the affected passengers to Miami last week. The company says it is still investigating what caused the accident.