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Feds say pilot of boat in deadly NY Harbor capsize was unlicensed, ignored safety protocols
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Aug 10, 2026
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United States District Court / Southern District of New York
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Aug 10, 2026
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Federal prosecutors say the 46-year-old man who was piloting the boat that capsized in New York Harbor Saturday evening was operating it without a required license and ignored safety protocols, causing the deaths of a mother and infant daughter onboard.
Authorities allege his criminally negligent behavior included carrying 14 people on a boat with a maximum allowable capacity of 10 and taking the group on board without an infant life jacket.
Manuel Hernandez, of Manville, New Jersey, was charged in federal court on Monday with two counts of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death, each carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. He appeared in court wearing a gray T-shirt and white swimming trunks.
Federal prosecutors, who took over the case from local authorities, said Hernandez didn’t have the required Merchant Mariner Credential while operating a boat on a tour for paying customers that had been arranged through a tour company and that the Yamaha AR210 was of a type and size that could never have received the sort of Coast Guard certificate of inspection needed to operate it legally with paying customers on board.
Manuel Hernandez outside court on Monday.
Catalina Gonella / Gothamist
“Federal regulations and maritime safety protocols exist to protect the lives and wellbeing of passengers on commercial vessels,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said in a statement Monday. “The defendant allegedly flouted those regulations when he transported paying customers on a commercial vessel without appropriate licenses, overcrowded the vessel, and took on a 5-month-old infant passenger, with no infant life vests onboard.”
The NYPD has said 27-year-old mother Sara Sanchez and her 5-month-old daughter Antonella Garcia died when the 22-foot bowrider capsized near the Statue of Liberty around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, and all 14 people were tossed overboard. The other 12 people survived. The NYPD originally charged Hernandez with more than a dozen counts of reckless endangerment before the case moved out of local courts.
Hernandez was released Monday on a $50,000 bond, with conditions barring him from traveling outside New York and New Jersey or contacting the boat's passengers or employees of the tour company.
“This tragedy could have been prevented, and now a family is left to grieve the unimaginable loss of a mother and her five-month-old daughter because of his negligence,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said in a statement.
Hernandez's attorney could not be reached Monday afternoon.
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Catalina Gonella
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