Boating accidents in Biscayne Bay could be reduced by improved navigational aid system, county study says | Key Biscayne

With over 357 boating accidents, including multiple fatalities, in Biscayne Bay in three years, Miami-Dade County is examining safety measures to curb the number of collisions.

This includes repairing or replacing beacons, improving lighting and signage to guide boaters to safe routes, and expanding channel markers and other navigational aids to avoid hazards in the bay during the day and night.

According to the Special Patrol Bureau of the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Marine Patrol Unit (MPU), 191 beacons located throughout the bay are either inoperable or missing and in need of replacement, repair or replacement.

Beacons work just like buoys, but are attached to the seabed.

MPU said in a study that the long poles that hold the beacon upright don’t allow for as much variation, but make it easier to add signs or lights to the structure. A beacon usually has depth or speed limit signs attached to it.

The focus of the study was an improved navigation aid system with lighting that resembles street signs, detours and traffic lights along roadways for drivers.

The system could reportedly reduce ship collisions by 52 percent.

The navigation aid system is a device that marks navigable canals and waterways using an array of colors, shapes, numbers and lighting.

The aids can range from lighthouses to small lights and sound signals to illuminated or unlit buoys.

The devices can help boaters find a safe way to get from one place to another and avoid accidents by providing improved signals, lighting and signage on their routes, especially where collisions with watercraft occur most comes.

At night, the navigation aid system can be identified by different lighting (red, green, white or yellow), which can signal to boaters that there are other vessels in the area and to signal boaters to reduce speed.

The study states that a flashing light identifies the main entrance to a channel and a light indicator and the duration of the light determine which channel is identified.

For example, the entrance to the Black Point Marina channel is marked by a flashing red light.

A skipper can scan the horizon and easily identify the Black Point Marina canal entrance by locating the one flashing red light with a six-second flashing interval.

However, there could be challenges with the navigation assistance system, according to the study.

For example, the virtual lack of depth perception at night makes it difficult to determine the distance between the operator and objects.

Another challenge is that the operator can adjust his vision to the darkness when light comes from the ship, another ship or from land.

Due to the lack of visibility and reduced depth perception, it becomes difficult to determine which lights are actually illuminated beacons and which are just remnants of city lights or other ships.

The Miami-Dade County Commission initiated the study last year after 357 boating accidents in Biscayne Bay from 2019 to 2022.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC), some accidents involved beacons that needed to be repaired, replaced, or were missing.

There were 73 accidents in 2019, 55 of which occurred during daylight hours and 18 at night.

Of the 73 accidents, 4 involved beacons, and only 2 of the 4 occurred at night.

There were 97 accidents in 2020, 84 of which occurred during daylight hours and 13 at night. Of the 97 accidents, 4 involved beacons and only one of the four accidents occurred at night.

There were 95 accidents in 2021, 78 of which occurred during daylight hours and 17 at night.

Of the 95 accidents, 4 involved beacons, and only 2 of the 4 occurred at night.

There were a total of 92 accidents in 2022; 73 of the accidents occurred during daylight hours and 19 occurred after hours. 6 of the 73 accidents involved beacons and only 3 of the 6 accidents occurred at night.

According to news reports, two boats collided near Miami Harbor in February 2024, injuring 13 people.

According to the FFWCC, most reported accidents were related to damage caused by the wake of a passing vessel striking docks, seawalls or grounding.

However, the FFWCC report did not mention whether there were any fatal accidents.

Boating safety in Biscayne Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway near Boca Chita Key is a focus for the county and the FFWCC, who fear that speeding, alcohol and the lack of an improved navigational aid system will lead to more accidents or, worse, could lead to deaths.

A father and son were killed when two ships crashed off Key Biscayne in June 2022, with dozens of passengers also injured.

In September 2022, a 29-foot Robalo boat carrying 14 passengers struck a channel marker on the Intracoastal Waterway near Boca Chita Key in Miami-Dade County.

All passengers were thrown from the ship and one person was killed.

In 2023, a boater who police said was drunk was speeding when he crashed into a channel marker in Biscayne Bay, ejecting one of his passengers from the water and killing him.

Eric Rodriguez, 24, was arrested this month on charges of driving under the influence, involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.