Two people are dead after the inflatable center-console boat they were traveling in from Honeymoon Beach on Water Island to St. Thomas Sunday night struck a “rock,” according to Deputy Police Commissioner Curtis Griffin. Further information suggests the boat actually struck the round cement mooring dolphin which lies 300 feet beyond the Crown Bay cruise ship dock and is used to secure cruise and cargo ships.
An unofficial source identified one of the dead as Giorgio Bertrand, owner of Dinghy’s Bar and Restaurant on Honeymoon Beach on Water Island.
Two more people who had been in the vessel were being interviewed at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital, where they were taken for treatment of their injuries, Kevin Jackson, V.I. Police Department spokesperson said at 9:30 p.m.
There were five passengers in the vessel at the time of the accident. Little else is known, and no names had been officially released as of 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
V.I. Police Department did issue a release on the incident Monday afternoon, but did not release any names, citing the need to notify next of kin.
This is not the first time lives have been lost in the vicinity of the dolphin. In January 2000, Robert Johnson, a part-time Water Island resident was fatally injured when he struck a line that was stretched between the dolphin and a small Dutch naval vessel.
The dolphin has been there since 1983.
