Video footage showed the moment a cruise sank as rescue boats scrambled to save passengers from drowning. (Screen captures via Twitter/@fitnessgayz)
As Mexico’s coronavirus caseloads soar, a queer party boat packed with some 60 people sank to the depths of the ocean Friday afternoon (31 December).
Startling mobile phone footage uploaded to social media showed the moment blue waves engulfed the PV Delice Party Cruise catamaran.
Crew and partygoers trying to stay afloat bob along in life vests around the keeped over boat, some clinging to or frantically flagging the attention of nearby rescue boats.
The disaster struck the cruise off the coast of Puerto Vallarta, a resort town in the western state of Jalisco, during a New Year’s Eve event.
Witnesses described the waters that day as “choppy” while others confirmed that no passengers were injured during the incident, reported Out and About PV, a local queer news outlet.
— All about the Benjamins (@fitnessgayz) January 1, 2021
‘It was like the Titanic’: Gay party vessel capizes off west Mexico beach mere moments it was due to dock
According to the organiser’s website and social media posts, the event saw ticket-holders pay upwards of $120 to $150 for the party. It began as the boat left Los Muertos Pier at around 10:30am.
It included access to a secluded men-only, “clothing optional” beach jammed with gogo dancers and a live DJ.
As the boat wrapped up its celebrations by Playa Quimixto beach at around 5pm, revellers sipped margaritas on the boat’s bar. But passengers noticed the rear of the boat begin to swell with water.
“It was like the Titanic,” reflected passenger Emillo Blanco, who travelled to Mexico from Chicago, US, “it went all down slowly.”
“I think the crew just didn’t know how to maneuver the catamaran very well, the sea was not very rough nor was it too windy,” he said.
“We were about to sail back to Puerto Vallarta, but the catamaran barely moved.”
Staffers quickly rang an SOS signal out in alarm. With the boat steadily sinking, Blanco claimed “at least 10 small boats” rallied to rescue them and he had to swim to one: “It was quite a scary situation,” he said.
As much as COVID-19 continues to shatter daily records and its hospitals clogged and overhwlemed, added to Mexicos’ list of woes, an influx of Americans.
Tens of thousands in the US have fled to Mexico across October and November, according to official figures, fuelling concern among already exhausted public health officials. Some news reports have linked American tourists to outbreaks.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already advised Americans to avoid all travel to Mexico, which carries the fourth-highest death total from COVID-19 in the world.
PinkNews contacted PV Delice Party Cruise for comment.