MIAMI– The captain of a tugboat has pleaded guilty to causing a deadly collision in Miami that killed three girls from a boating camp last summer.

Yusiel Lopez Insua, 47, of Miami, pleaded guilty Tuesday to sailor manslaughter, according to court records. The charge carries up to 10 years in federal prison, but prosecutors have recommended a year in prison followed by six months of home detention as part of a plea deal. A judge will make the final decision.

“Three children lost their lives in a tragedy that should never have happened,” US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason Reding Quiñones, said in a statement. “Yusiel López Insua… admitted that his criminal failure to comply with basic maritime safety rules caused this deadly collision. Our hearts remain with the children’s families and with all those whose lives were forever changed that day.”

According to court records, López Insua was piloting a 25-foot (8-meter) tugboat that was pushing a construction barge through Biscayne Bay on July 28, 2025. The 108-foot (33-meter) long barge was loaded with construction debris, bringing its total weight to approximately 149 gross tons.

The ship’s forward view was obstructed by a deckhouse and a crane, and no crew members had been assigned to serve as a lookout, authorities said. This prevented López Insúa from seeing a sailboat carrying a 19-year-old counselor and five girls, ages 7 to 13, from a nearby sailing camp that had lost wind and stopped in the path of the tugboat, investigators said. The barge passed over the sailboat, submerging it under the hull of the barge.

The counselor and two girls managed to escape, but three girls were trapped under the rubble and drowned, authorities said. A forensic review of López Insúa’s cell phone revealed Internet activity while the tugboat was underway, including at or near the time of the collision.

The children were in their last week of camp, according to the Miami Yacht Club.

In 2024, across the United States there were more than 550 recreational boating deaths, but only 43 were caused by boats colliding with each other, according to Coast Guard statistics.