Documents presented in a US federal court have revealed that the captain of a boat that had been involved in a fatal capsizing incident in New York Harbor late last week did not possess the proper licence for operating the vessel.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have alleged that 46-year-old Manuel Hernandez was running an illegal charter boat operation at the time of the loss of the 21-foot (six-metre) vessel near Liberty Island on Saturday, August 8.
On the said date, the vessel encountered a swell and overturned in the vicinity of the Statue of Liberty with all 13 persons on board going into the water.
The US Coast Guard and other partner agencies were able to recover all the occupants of the overturned vessel. Tragically, however, two of the passengers, a 27-year-old woman and her infant daughter, were pronounced deceased shortly after recovery.
Hernandez was later arrested by police for reckless endangerment.
Prosecutors said Hernandez violated federal regulations and maritime safety protocols by operating a commercial vessel without the appropriate licence, overloading the same vessel by exceeding its rated passenger limit of 10, and taking an infant on board despite being aware that the boat had no infant lifejackets available.
The federal complaint submitted to the court stated that Hernandez himself has admitted to never having applied for a boat operator's licence or required US Coast Guard certification despite having taken passengers on charter trips in New York Harbor since 2025.
Prosecutors added that the boat that overturned had been borrowed from another owner, as Hernandez's own vessel was in disrepair.
Hernandez, who faces charges of neglect and misconduct, has been ordered by the court to stay away from the survivors, to, "not operate boats or nautical vessels," and to remain within the New York and New Jersey area while the case was still ongoing.