Tugboat captain pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2025 crash

A tugboat captain pleaded guilty on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, to federal charges of seamans manslaughter for causing a collision that killed three young girls during a sailing camp outing in Biscayne Bay last summer. Yusiel Lopez Insua, 46, admitted his criminal failure to follow basic maritime safety rules led to the fatal crash on July 28, 2025.

Insua was operating a 25-foot tugboat pushing a 108-foot barge loaded with construction debris when it struck a stalled sailboat carrying a 19-year-old camp counselor and five girls from the Miami Yacht Club. The three victims were identified as Mila Yankelevich, 7, Arielle Buchman, 10, and Erin Ko, 13. The barge ran over the sailboat, submerging it. The counselor and two other girls managed to escape, but the three victims became trapped beneath the wreckage and drowned. Their cause of death was ruled accidental drowning.

Prosecutors detailed that Insua’s forward view was obstructed by a deckhouse and crane on the tugboat, and no crew member had been assigned as a lookout. A forensic review of his cellphone revealed internet activity while the tugboat was underway, including at or near the time of the collision.