Boat Sinks; Victims Dial 9-1-1 From Beer Cooler

KEY BISCAYNE, FL — Three fishermen were lucky to have remembered their beer cooler on Saturday morning. That's apparently what saved them when their boat sank near Key Biscayne. After managing to dial 9-1-1 before losing service in the water, they were found clinging to the empty cooler.

"Their cell phones were in a plastic jar, floated back to them in their grouping aboard a cooler and were able to make a phone call to 9-1-1 before losing ability to call out," Erika Benitez of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told Patch. "That in and of itself is amazing." (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Miami Patch.)

"Their call was picked up by our dispatch," she said, adding that none of the victims were wearing life jackets when they were plucked out of the water.

The lucky fishermen were rescued by a marine unit of the Miami-Dade Police Department, a helicopter from the U.S. Coast Guard and first responders from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

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Detective Daniel Ferrin of the Miami-Dade Police Department told Patch that the rescue took place around 10 a.m. on Saturday. The victims had been piloting an 18 f00t 6 inch Falcon vessel.

"According to officers from MDPD Marine Patrol Unit, at about 10 this morning, they responded to a call of a submerged vessel and three men in the water off the coast of 1200 Crandon Boulevard," Ferrin said. "Upon their arrival along with USCG air unit, they were able to rescue all three adult males and move them to Bill Baggs State Park’s No Name Harbor."

He added that all three victims were treated on shore by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and released.

Photo courtesy of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue