A boat with seven people on board sank in São Vicente, on the coast of São Paulo, while crossing the region known as the Devil’s Throat, last Sunday (29).
Five people were rescued by the Marine Fire Brigade (GBMar) and the Navy, but two were still missing, according to authorities.
The Devil’s Throat is characterized by being a kind of crack, a narrowing at the entrance to São Vicente Bay that ends up contributing to greater tidal agitation in this space. As a result, the place suffers from the influence of currents that come from the south and advance over the bay with force, in addition to high waves that end up being formed by the excess deposition of sediments in this area.
Pedro Felipe Costa Pedroza Martins, 1st Lieutenant of the Military Police and spokesperson for GBMar, explained that the Devil’s Throat is positioned between Porchat Island and the Xixová-Japuí State Park, functioning as an entrance to São Vicente Bay, and being access to places such as Gonzaguinha beach and Ponte Pênsil.
“Due to the fact that there is a bottleneck there, the currents are very strong, both from floods and ebbs,” says Martins.
The lieutenant states that the place has shallow parts, which also favors the emergence of high waves, which can reach a height of up to 4 meters. When firefighters received the call to respond to the incident, the height of the waves was 1.5 meters, says Martins. “It is a considerable height and easily capable of capsizing a vessel.”
“Because it is a coastal region and the bottom has rocks and shallow parts, the waves, as they come from the sea, as they approach, gain a very high altitude. This is even attractive for the practice of tow-in, which involves surfers towed by jet skis”, says the lieutenant. “So, depending on what the sea is like, the waves can reach a height of 2 meters, 3 meters, even 4 meters, in Garganta do Diabo.”
Biologist and researcher Fábio Sanches, post-doctoral fellow at the Marine Ecology and Conservation Laboratory (LABECMar) at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), explains that the region has a geomorphology and hydrodynamics – characterized by the entrance of the estuary , a transition point between the freshwater river and the saltwater sea – which favors a change in the sand banks.
“Some areas are generally shallower, where there is more deposition, and others are deeper”, he says about the Devil’s Throat.
“In the place where the (Devil’s) Throat is located, there is a shallower sand bank, most likely due to the presence of Porchat Island, which is important in this sense. So, with a lower tide, the bank becomes even shallower, and when there is a swell from the south, the waves tend to get bigger and break more frequently”, explains Sanches.
“Further into the Bay, Porta do Sol is located, which is another wave peak. The idea is similar, with the presence of a shallower bench. But, in this case, it only changes the direction of the swell a little, as it is more sheltered”, adds the researcher.
The dangers and risks that this region can cause contributed to the region’s nickname, says Lieutenant Pedro Felipe Costa Pedroza Martins, from GBMar. “The name Garganta do Diabo is due to these conditions. Navigation is difficult and access to São Vicente Bay requires some peculiarities. It’s not simple navigation to do.”
Boat sinks with seven people
The Fire Department was called at 7:18 pm by residents of São Vicente after a small vessel, with seven people, sank, between Porchat Island and Paranapuã Beach, close to the area known as ‘Devil’s Throat’.
Five people were rescued in the first two hours after the sinking, according to firefighters. They received care from the Mobile Emergency Care Service (Samu) and four of them were taken to the São Vicente Central Emergency Room and have already been discharged. The fifth person rescued required medical attention.
This Tuesday morning (1), the search for the missing was resumed by staff from the Guarda Vidas de São Vicente Fire Station. According to GBMar, the survivors reported being two women who broke away from the group at the time of the sinking. It is not known whether they were wearing life jackets.
The Brazilian Navy (MB) reported that the São Paulo Port Authority (CPSP) became aware of the incident on Sunday night and sent a team to the location to conduct the search together with the São Paulo Military Fire Department.
An administrative inquiry was launched to investigate possible causes and responsibilities. “It is worth noting that there was no record of water pollution resulting from the sinking of the vessel”, says the Navy note.
The incident records will also be forwarded to the Civil Police, who will investigate the causes of the accident.
This content was originally published in Garganta do Diabo: how is the place where a boat with 7 people sank on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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