A busy Saturday afternoon at one of Miami’s most popular waterway destinations turned into a scene of emergency chaos on May 9 when a suspected explosion tore through a charter vessel near the Haulover Sandbar in Biscayne Bay, sending eleven people to hospital with injuries ranging from severe burns to serious traumatic wounds.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue received the call at approximately 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time and dispatched more than 25 units in response, including Fireboat 21 and Ocean Rescue teams. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also responded to the scene, where crews found multiple patients in the water and on board requiring immediate medical attention.
MDFR Battalion Chief Juan Arias confirmed that crews encountered burn injuries alongside more traumatic physical wounds upon arrival. The volume of casualties was significant enough that officials upgraded the call to a Level 2 Mass Casualty Incident, triggering additional resource deployment to manage the scene and transport patients to appropriate medical facilities across the region.
One victim, identified by family members as a woman named Rojas, was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center. A relative told reporters she had sustained second-degree burns across her legs, buttocks, chest, left arm and the left side of her body, underlining the severity of the explosion’s impact on those closest to the blast.
The vessel involved was identified by the Miami Herald as the Nauti Nabors, a 40-foot cabin cruiser registered in Sherman, Texas, described in the U.S. Coast Guard database as certified for recreational use. The FWC told local media outlets the vessel was operating as a charter at the time of the incident, creating a discrepancy that investigators will need to resolve as the inquiry progresses.
Following the explosion, the Nauti Nabors was seen docked near the Haulover Marine Center for inspection. The cause of the explosion remains under formal investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, with no preliminary findings released by Saturday evening.
Fire officials took the opportunity to urge the public to prioritise water safety during what is traditionally one of the busiest periods of the boating season. Carrying a radio, maintaining functional fire extinguishers and ensuring life vests are accessible were highlighted as baseline precautions every vessel operator should have in place before heading out onto South Florida’s waterways.
The Haulover Sandbar, a shallow stretch of Biscayne Bay between Miami Beach and Aventura, draws large crowds of recreational boaters and weekend visitors throughout the warmer months, making the timing of the incident particularly hazardous given the number of people in the surrounding water.
