Search Continues for 3 Missing People After Boat Sinks Near Alcatraz; 1 Dead

One person is dead and three people remain missing after a boat carrying 20 passengers sank in the San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island Tuesday afternoon.

Officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and San Francisco Fire Department said Tuesday night that search and rescue teams would continue to lookfor the missing mariners throughout the night.

Three passengers were injured and transported to local hospitals and are in stable condition, according to SFFD Chief Dean Crispen. SFFD confirmed one dog also died in the sinking.

At 3:37 p.m., the SFFD received a report of a vessel in distress or on fire approximately 600 yards off of Alcatraz Island, Crispen said.

Crispen said officers with San Francisco Police Department’s Marine Unit were the first on the scene, and saw a man in the water in “severe distress.” Crispen said the SFPD placed him in their boat, initiated CPR, but upon transporting him to Gas House Cove in the Marina District, the man was pronounced deceased.

Crispen said the vessel left from the St. Francis Yacht Club, but despite initial reports the San Francisco Fire Departments did not see evidence of a fire.

Lieutenant Mariano Elias, public information officer for the SFFD, described the vessel as a 50-foot “cabin cruiser” pontoon boat roughly 50-feet long and three stories in height. He said the vessel’s name was Volare and the boat was based out of Stockton.

People were jumping in the water when rescuers arrived and the boat was already mostly under water, Elias said. 

“The reports we’ve had from witnesses is that there were rough seas, and apparently the vessel began to take on water and was turned over in the bay,” Crispen said.

Crispen said the passengers were mostly made up of family members, and that he believed they were participating in “some kind of memorial service” when they were hit by a wave, took on water and the boat capsized.

The U.S. Coast Guard is leading search and rescue efforts. 

“ We have modeling software that predicts the location of where our missing mariners could be. We use that very strictly to provide assets, and throughout the night we will have surface and air assets providing coverage,” said U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant John Corvino.

Officials initially reported the boat had 19 passengers, but after talking to witnesses, determined there were 20 people on board the boat. 

The SFFD planned to give an update on the missing persons at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.