boat

Cruise ship passenger Brittanie Crippin was on board the ill-fated ferry boat on Tuesday as it sunk in waters near Paradise Island off Blue Lagoon Island.

Mourning the 75-year-old woman killed during the mishap, Crippin said the captain and crew of the snorkeling vessel operated by Blue Lagoon, seemed clueless.

“The captain and crew had no idea what to do. The captain was laughing as it sank, gave no instructions [on] what to do, the crew didn’t help at all,” she lamented.

Video circulating social media shows a crowded boat as passengers congregate on one side of the vessel attempting to level the craft as the other side descends deeper into the water.

“Our boat is sinking,” one woman who says she was on the top floor of the double-decker, calmly states as other passengers scream. They are all adorned with life vests and some jump into the water as it sinks further.

“Oh sh—t,” one passenger yells.

The boat of 100 passengers left the ferry dock at 9:30 am for Blue Lagoon Island, but half an hour later, it ran into trouble in the rough seas and began to take on water.

Crippin said the weather was good despite reports of bad weather on Tuesday. “Everyone was crying and screaming for help.

“Wild times in the Bahamas.

“There were lots of life vests aboard. No one had life vest on until it started to sink.”

Chad Schissel, another passenger believed the captain turned too quickly and the waves capsized the boat. “The crew freaked out more than the passengers. [They] must have been trained very well,” he said sarcastically.”

Kissy Schissel added that “the wave hit the front of the boat and sunk us under.”

The boat remained partially submerged since the water depth was reportedly only 20 feet deep.

Jamie Diliberto, a Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas passenger, said the victim was a fellow passenger. He could not contain his emotions, “I am crying.”

Passengers were later rescued by the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, Blue Lagoon, and other vessels in the area.

The victim was visiting on a five-day cruise from Colorado. The Bahamas was her second stop. The exact cause of death remains unknown.

The featured picture shows Kissy Schissel after the ordeal.

Before 50-year-old Princess Mills drowned, the preacher and teacher often traversed the northern islands to spread the gospel message, after teaching students in Family and Consumer Studies at SC Bootle High School.

When friends and family found out that she died tragically after a boat in which she was a passenger overturned early Thursday morning, they were in disbelief.

“I tried not to believe this as I fought internally with so many emotions…This is a tough pill to swallow,” cousin Elon Elcaro said.

“My beautiful, anointed, powerful, rare, phenomenal, supernatural, believing cousin,” he lamented.

Mills was in Freeport for a church service where she danced and preached, after which, she called a ferry boat to carry her back to Abaco where she planned to spend the Easter holidays with her husband and son in Moore’s Island.

But before she could arrive, the 20ft Grady boat capsized. Mill’s lifeless body was found floating near the vessel as the 19-year-old boat captain who always ferried her to the various islands, was found clinging to the vessel after 2 am.

Her father Jonathan Stuart reminisced, “Everybody really loved her.”

Stuart helped her load the boat with her belongings before her departure from McClean’s Town, after which she kissed him and said, “Daddy I’ll see you when you get home.”

Friend Terrece Isabella who also taught at SC Bootle High School said it was typical of Mills to take boat rides at night to partake in various church services in Marsh Harbour, Eleuthera and Freeport.

“There were no seasons in my life in the last 20-plus years, that she didn’t show up, and show up she did.

“Princess [Mills] was gentle, radical in faith, sacrificial and motherly. I witnessed Princess giving people the last that she had. Oftentimes, people were quick to take advantage of her generosity and loving nature, without regard for her sacrifices.

Isabella said Mills was the epitome of selflessness. “She fed and provided for those she believed needed her.

“She never put herself first. It was just Princess—a giver.”

Former student, Devon Cooper said, “This cut me deep. From high school, I always knew her to be an example of a true woman of God.”

While another student Krizstina Rutherford described her as “the best Home Economic teacher anyone could possibly ask for.”

The US Coast Guard suspended its search for 20 people on board a 29-foot vessel that left Bimini for Florida, but never made it.

Officials say the blue and white 29-foot Mako Cuddy Cabin vessel reportedly left Bimini, Bahamas on Monday with 20 passengers and was expected to arrive in Lake Worth, Florida.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the missing people. I encourage anyone with information about the people aboard to contact us as soon as possible,” said Captain Stephen Burdian, Seventh District Chief of Response.”

Coast guard authorities said they along with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the Bahamas Air Sea and Rescue Association searched nearly 17,000 square miles of sea, for about three days, with no trace of the vessel.

A family member of someone on board the vessel alerted authorities in the Bahamas after a relative on board the vessel did not call alerting that they had arrived in Florida, according to Petty Officer Third Class Jose Hernandez. 

What is not known

• why the boat was going to Florida
• which part of Lake Worth Beach it was headed to
• the names and nationalities of those on board