A shipwreck that capsized near Alcatraz has been found in San Francisco Bay
The sunken remains of the Volare are located at the bottom of San Francisco Bay – not far from where the 49-foot cabin cruiser once capsized in what is believed to be the death of four of the 20 passengers on board.
Now, questions are swirling about whether the authorities will be able to raise the boat, if there are bodies inside, and if the disaster will reveal what happened.
The San Francisco Police Department has been using boat-mounted sonar to search for the vessel since Tuesday and found its remains on Friday. The department’s marine unit is now using an underwater drone to examine the wreckage and see if it is possible to bring the boat to the surface.
The area of the beach where the boat capsized, about 600 feet west of Alcatraz Island, is about 130 feet deep, just past the limit where people can safely dive, according to San Francisco Police Cmdr. Brien Hoo.
The water pressure at that depth greatly increases the force required to lift the boat, making the rescue effort more challenging.
“We will have to look for a special company that can help with the recovery and help raise the boat,” Hoo said on Wednesday. “This hasn’t happened in as long as I can remember, so we’ll all have to hold hands to figure out how to get the boat back safely.”
The Department is still investigating what caused the boat to capsize, and the search for the two missing passengers who are suspected to have died.
A group of 20 passengers were on board the Volare for a memorial service to honor a loved one when the boat overturned.
Survivors reported that a wave struck the boat, causing it to list too much and then capsize, according to Jarod Toczko, US Coast Guard field commander in San Francisco.
But marine investigators and experts, including the captain who was out in port that day, told The Times that a single wave was unlikely to have sunk such a large vessel. Although the exact cause will not be known until officials remove the boat from the seabed and conduct a full investigation, they said the ship may have taken on water after a series of problems or failures.
There is a “high probability” that the missing people were trapped inside the ship when it sank, Toczko said. Based on interviews with survivors, it appears that most of the passengers were on the main deck when the boat capsized, but others may have been below deck, he said.
Clifford Joseph Boisa, 79, died on Tuesday after succumbing to his injuries in the incident. The body of the second victim, identified as Tondra Miller, 58, was found near Treasure Island on Thursday.
Authorities have not released the names of the two unidentified passengers.
“Our hearts go out to all involved in this tragic incident,” the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement Friday. “The SFPD would like to thank all of our partner agencies and members of the public for their quick actions during the rescue and their tireless work in responding and searching for the missing persons.”
Times staff writer Jenny Jarvie contributed to this report.
