That beautiful Thursday morning quickly turned to tragedy when the Pura Vida Princess capsized, drowning three tourists and leaving more than 100 passengers and crew fighting rough seas off the coast of Punta Leona. As the Coast Guard tried to muster a response, nearby fishermen and other private boats were responsible for rescuing many of the survivors.
Luis Fernando Coronado, director of the Public Works and Transport Ministry’s (MOPT) Maritime-Port Administration, told The Tico Times in a telephone interview that since the 1997 accident there have not been any updates to rules governing MOPT’s ability to punish private and passenger ships for violating maritime safety and administrative requirements or heeding Coast Guard recommendations. The closest thing to a new change has been the Aquatic Navigation bill, which has yet to be passed by the Legislative Assembly after more than two years.
The Prosecutor’s Office and the Judicial Investigation Police have opened an investigation into the causes of the Pura Vida Princess catamaran accident to determine whether or not the ship’s captain was negligent, Tatiana Vargas, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to The Tico Times.
Early Thursday morning, 99 vacationers boarded the Pura Vida Princess, a 100-foot catamaran, in Playa Herradura on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast for an all inclusive day trip to Tortuga Island. Roughly 30 minutes later, at about 8:40 a.m., the ship issued a distress call and quickly sank in high winds and rough sea off the coast of the beach town of Punta Leona. Three passengers died.
A boat carrying at least 98 people issued a distress call at 8:40 a.m. on Thursday stating that it was sinking 6 nautical miles off the coast of Punta Leona in the Pacific Ocean, according to the Public Security Ministry on its Twitter account. Ten crew members were on board.
A Costa Rican boat rescued a 63-year-old tourist from the United States in a mysterious accident at sea in southern Costa Rica last Friday, the Public Security Ministry reported.
