A 27-year-old charter yacht captain drowned four days after Christmas while attempting to retrieve a camera that a guest dropped off a boat, officials said.
Zac Van Der Merwe, a South Africa native, was captaining the boat Chicago Breeze for Moorings guests at the time of the incident, according to Police Information Officer Diane Drayton.
Witnesses said that shortly after 8 a.m. on Dec. 29 the boat was in the vicinity of The Bight at Norman Island when a guest’s camera fell into waters that were about 70 feet deep, said Phil Aspinall, the president of Virgin Island Search and Rescue.
Mr. Van Der Merwe made at least two attempts to recover the camera but then did not immediately resurface, Mr. Aspinall said. Sailors and members of a team of divers in the area responded and brought Mr. Van Der Merwe to the surface. They attempted CPR, but to no avail, Mr. Aspinall said.
Ms. Drayton said an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be drowning.
See the Jan. 6, 2012 edition for full coverage.