San Francisco police on Friday have located a 49-foot cabin cruiser that capsized and sank earlier this week in the Bay.
The San Francisco Police Department’s Marine Unit located the sunken vessel through boat-mounted sonar technology, a police news release said. Police are now partnering with other agencies to assess the wreckage and feasibility of possibly recovering the vessel.
As of Friday morning, out of the 20 passengers aboard the vessel, two people were pronounced dead and two more remain missing.
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jarod Toczko said at a Wednesday news conference that there is a high possibility that the missing individuals were trapped inside the enclosed main deck or lower deck. In survivor debriefings, passengers told the Coast Guard that people were in the enclosed decks when the boat was sailing.
SFPD Cmdr. Brien Hoo said at the Wednesday briefing that police will have to discuss the feasibility of lifting the boat back to the surface and can use underwater drones to determine the boat’s structure. Decisions to lift the vessel will depend on how deep it has sunk, Hoo said.
According to Hoo, safely recovering the boat could be difficult, especially because a recovery operation to this extent hasn’t happened “as long as I can remember.”
San Francisco police said officers will continue their investigation into the cause of the sinking vessel and continue recovery efforts of the remaining two missing individuals.
