AH-WR-0678

United Caribbean

Cargo Freighter · Panama · Lost 2000 · Florida's Atlantic Coast

The infamous Golden Venture human-smuggling ship, later renamed and sunk off Boca Raton as an artificial reef.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

As the Golden Venture, this freighter ran aground off Rockaway Beach, New York, in June 1993 while carrying 286 Chinese migrants in a notorious human-smuggling operation; ten of them drowned attempting to swim ashore. Sold and renamed United Caribbean, she later worked as a Caribbean cargo vessel before being left derelict on the Miami River when her owner could not pay crew wages. Palm Beach County acquired and cleaned the ship, scuttling her off Boca Raton on August 22, 2000, to create an artificial reef and, in the words of a county official, a kind of living memorial.

Vessel

Built: 1969
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Steel
Length: 150 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Diesel, single screw
Owners: Export Terminal (at loss)

Loss

Date: August 22, 2000
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: About 1 mile off Boca Raton, Florida
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 0
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 50-70
Condition: Broken sections and wheelhouse remain identifiable; moved slightly and damaged during Hurricane Wilma.
Orientation: Bow to the southeast
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established