The man sitting on top of a capsized boat off the coast of Florida was holding onto a rope and struggling to stay on top.
“They were ecstatic they were able to save a life,” said Joshua Alexander Nelson, operations manager for Signet Maritime Corp., a marine transportation company.
But their contentment soon gave way to a somber realization.
The man told the crew he had boarded the vessel with 39 other people from several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean on Saturday in Bimini, the westernmost islands of the Bahamas. None were to be seen.
“It was really heavy on them, especially considering several crew members are originally from Honduras and other parts in Latin America,” Nelson said. “It hit close to home.”
The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday it had found one body after combing an area the size of New Jersey off southeast Florida. Capt. Jo-Ann F. Burdian, who commands the U.S. Coast Guard’s Miami sector, said crews were still hoping to find survivors from the suspected human smuggling operation, but admitted the outlook was “dire.”
“The longer they remain in the water without food, without water, exposed to the marine environment, the sun, the sea conditions … every moment that passes, it becomes more dire and unlikely that anyone will survive in those conditions,” Burdian said.
The ordeal comes as the Coast Guard and other authorities warn of a rising number of migrants from countries including Haiti and Cuba making risky voyages by sea amid economic hardship, the coronavirus pandemic and political instability in the Latin America and the Caribbean. In recent months, officers have found vessels carrying upward of 200 people en route to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and the mainland United States.
David Claros, an attorney with Church World Service, a faith-based organization that offers assistance to migrants and refugees, said increasingly restrictive migration policies on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border and throughout Latin America have also led people to search for other ways of fleeing.
“This deters people from trying to enter the U.S. through normal ways and leads to more individuals taking the risk and going on these sea trips,” Claros said.
U.S. authorities have repeatedly underscored the perils of such voyages.
“The weather can change rapidly, and if you are traveling in a makeshift vessel, it is very easy to capsize and can result in people losing their lives,” Petty Officer Jose Hernandez said. “Especially if you are not wearing any proper safety equipment.”
Burdian said the rescued man told officials the boat capsized shortly after casting off. None of those on board was wearing a lifejacket, she said. He was found about 45 miles east of Fort Pierce Inlet, located in St. Lucie County, north of Palm Beach.
The man was hospitalized in stable condition Wednesday, officials said. Burdian declined to provide details on the survivor or the deceased but urged families who believe their loved ones could be among the missing to contact Coast Guard officials.
In 2021, the State Department reported that high unemployment during the pandemic may have exacerbated the smuggling crisis, with traffickers luring migrants with false offers of employment. In the Bahamas, people without Bahamian citizenship, such as those born to a non-Bahamian father, are at heightened risk of trafficking, as well as those displaced by hurricanes.
Many of the migrants making their way to the United States via the Bahamas begin elsewhere, stopping in the archipelago before continuing on to Florida, which is just 50 miles from the western islands.
Since Jan. 1, the Coast Guard reported it has already rescued 557 Haitians and 586 Cubans attempting to migrate by sea. The numbers are significant compared with totals from all of 2021, when they rescued 1,527 Haitians and 838 Cuban migrants.
The trek is perilous: The boats often sail through channels such as the Mona Passage, which lies between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and is filled with tidal currents and sand banks, making it one of the most dangerous straits in the Caribbean. Migrants often travel in overloaded, poorly maintained and constructed vessels.
While voyages between South Florida and the Bahamas can be “quite easy” for recreational boaters, small vessels that are overloaded, operated by inexperienced boaters and traveling at night can be dangerous, Burdian said. If no further survivors are found and 39 other people were onboard — a number consistent with what authorities have found so far — it would be one of the worst migrant disasters at sea in the Caribbean in recent years.
“This is horrible and unfortunate, but sadly it is not new,” Claros said.
Hernandez said the Coast Guard remains “focused on the active search” and “has a duty to look for any signs of life and any new information that can inform the search efforts.”
Three Coast Guard vessels, known as cutters, and multiple Navy aircraft were deployed for Wednesday’s search, Burdian said. Search conditions were good, but she noted, “we can’t search forever.” The search and rescue effort is a U.S.-led effort, though Burdian said they were working in cooperation with international authorities.
Since 2014, at least 967 migrants have disappeared during the voyages in the Caribbean, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration. However, that does not account for the many vessels that go undetected, given the “secret” nature of these sea voyages and the remoteness of the routes, the agency said in a statement.
“The growing number of migrant deaths in the region is highly alarming,” said Michele Klein Solomon, IOM’s regional director for Central and North America and the Caribbean.
“Saving lives is an absolute priority,” she added. “The families of those missing migrants need answers, and those politically responsible need better information and data to guarantee a safe and dignified migration for everyone.”
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