Parents of 3 Florida girls who died in barge-sailboat crash sue barge company

Milena Malaver, Miami Herald on Feb 11, 2026

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MIAMI — The parents of the three Miami Yacht Club summer campers who were killed last summer when a 60-foot barge slammed into their sailboat sued the company that owns the barge, alleging negligence and irresponsible hiring.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Dec. 29 against Waterfront Construction, states that on the morning of July 28, 2025, Mila Yankelevich, 7, Erin Ko, 13, Arielle Buchman, 10, and Calena Areyan Gruber, a 7-year-old who survived the crash, boarded a 17-foot Hobie Getaway sailboat to “learn the basics of sailing under the supervision and guidance of a camp counselor.”

The sailboat, carrying five girl campers and a 19-year-old female camp counselor, was among the first boats to leave the Miami Yacht Club’s dock near the MacArthur Causeway and head east toward Hibiscus Island in Biscayne Bay, according to the suit. The weather was clear and the water calm, but the barge being pushed by a tugboat “made no attempts to slow down or change its course,” as it became clear a collision was imminent, the suit alleges.

Witnesses on Hibiscus Island saw the vessels were on a collision course and began shouting warnings to the tugboat operator, but it was too late. The barge struck the sailboat head-on, causing it to tip and capsize, the lawsuit alleges.

The campers and counselor were catapulted into the water. Mila, Erin and Arielle died. The Miami-Dade medical examiner’s office ruled their cause of death as drowning.

Calena, who was trapped under the barge but managed to swim out, suffered “catastrophic injuries” that will affect her for the rest of her life, the suit says. The families of the four girls filed the suit.

“The parents suffered and continue to suffer damages, including mental pain and suffering, loss of the child’s companionship,” the suit states.

The suit alleges Waterfront Construction was “negligent, careless, and reckless” in failing to prevent the collision through proper safety policies, procedures and guidelines, and in failing to hire properly trained employees. It also claims the barge did not have proper lookouts, failed to render aid, and lacked appropriate safety equipment.

Lorenzo Palomares, an attorney for Jorge Rivas, the owner of the Miami-Dade-based Waterfront Construction, previously told the Miami Herald that the captain “has been navigating these waters for 12 years and knows them backwards and forwards. We’re trying to figure out what (the sailboat passengers) were doing out there.”

The barge captain is not named in the lawsuit.

Gustavo Martinez, an attorney for Waterfront, declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached by the Herald Wednesday.

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(Miami Herald staff writer David Goodhue contributed to this report.)

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