On February 11, 2024, a Thriller Miami speedboat tour vessel collided with a charter boat in the waters near Bayside Marketplace. Twenty-nine people were injured. Thirteen were transported to hospitals by ambulance, and at least one passenger was airlifted to a Level 1 trauma center.
Mausner Group Injury Lawyers was among the first firms on the scene, and filed the first lawsuit against Thriller Miami LLC arising from the collision. We represented six of the injured passengers. One of our clients captured the moment of impact on video from on board the vessel — footage that was later shown across national and South Florida news coverage of the crash.
If you were a passenger on either vessel that day, or you have been injured on a tour boat, charter, or other passenger vessel in South Florida, we can tell you where you stand. Consultations are free and confidential.
Trigger Warning: Real Accident Footage
What Happened Near Bayside on February 11, 2024
The Thriller Miami vessel was operating as a paid passenger tour in one of the busiest stretches of water in Miami-Dade County. Bayside sits at the heart of a corridor used simultaneously by tour operators, charters, private recreational boats, and commercial traffic. It demands slow, deliberate operation and constant attention.
The collision injured twenty-nine people. The injuries our clients sustained were serious and, in several cases, permanent: a sacral fracture, rib fractures, multiple cervical and lumbar disc herniations, a broken clavicle, a pelvic fracture, shoulder tears requiring possible surgery, and complex knee tears including meniscus damage.
Why we filed first, and why that mattered
In a maritime case, the evidence is on the water and it does not stay there. Vessels get repaired. Crews get reassigned. Logs, maintenance records, and electronics are controlled by the operator, not by the passengers who were hurt.
Filing early let us move to preserve evidence before it could be lost — including the on-board video our client recorded at the moment of impact. That footage became the clearest available record of how the collision happened, and it left very little room for dispute about it.
The matter involved twenty-one claimants across multiple law firms and resolved through a global mediation. We built an individual damages case for each of our clients while participating in that collective process.
What maritime law requires of a tour boat operator
Passengers frequently assume that a boating accident is handled like a car crash, or that signing something at the ticket counter ended their rights. Neither is correct, and the differences matter.
A paying passenger is owed the highest duty of care
An operator who carries passengers for hire is not held to an ordinary standard of care. Under maritime law, a common carrier owes its paying passengers the highest degree of care — a materially higher obligation than one private boater owes another.
Safe speed is a legal requirement, not a judgment call
Vessels are required to proceed at a speed that allows the operator to take proper and effective action to avoid a collision and to stop within a distance appropriate to the conditions. In congested waters near a destination like Bayside, that requirement is at its strictest.
A proper lookout must be maintained at all times
Every vessel must keep a proper lookout by sight and hearing, using every available means appropriate to the circumstances. Failing to see what is plainly there to be seen is itself a violation, and it is one of the most common findings in passenger vessel collisions.
A signed waiver does not automatically end your claim
Tour operators routinely ask passengers to sign liability waivers before boarding. Those waivers are subject to significant limitations under maritime law and Florida law, and courts examine them closely. Many passenger injury claims proceed successfully despite a signed waiver. If you signed something before boarding, it is worth having a lawyer read it before you assume it controls.
The company can be liable for its captain's conduct
When a captain or crew member operates a vessel negligently in the course of their employment, the operator and vessel owner can be held responsible for the resulting harm. Claims in these cases typically run against the company, not only the individual at the helm.
Coverage of the collision and the litigation
The collision and the litigation that followed drew national attention. Coverage appeared in the Miami Herald, NBC 6 South Florida, WSVN 7 News, Local 10, Fox News, CNN, People, USA Today, and the New York Post, among other outlets. The on-board video captured by our client was featured in that coverage across both national and South Florida outlets.
If you were injured on a Miami boat tour or charter
Passenger vessel cases turn on evidence that the operator controls and that disappears quickly. If you were hurt on a tour boat, charter, party boat, or any other passenger vessel in South Florida, the sooner someone is preserving that evidence on your behalf, the better positioned your claim is.
Mausner Group handles maritime and boating injury matters throughout Florida. Our Miami boating accident lawyers page explains how these claims work more broadly, and the Thriller Miami collision case result sets out how this particular matter was resolved.
Call for a free, confidential case review. We work on a contingency fee basis, no fee unless we recover for you. Hablamos español.
This page describes a specific matter and a specific set of facts. Past results do not guarantee or predict the outcome of any other case. Every case is different. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.
