Yacht capsizes near Chesapeake Bay, witnesses describe rescue of five people onboard

BALTIMORE -- Incredible images show a large yacht that capsized near the Chesapeake Bay in Edgewater, Anne Arundel County over the weekend. 

Many boaters were stunned by the scene where a 122-foot yacht sunk in a heavily traveled area at the mouth of the West River. 

To the rescue

The yacht sunk within minutes and people had to be plucked from the water.

Trevor Hardman, from Tour Boat Annapolis, was on a friend's boat nearby when he saw the Lovebug, a 122-foot yacht, as it began to sink just after 12:30 p.m. Saturday, and he got closer to help. 

"As we tried to figure out what part of the boat we were looking at, we realized it slowly started to list and lean over to one side," Hardman said. "I would say within four to five minutes the boat was consumed and the captain had made the determination that they needed to abandon ship."

WJZ reviewed emergency dispatch recordings where responders were advised the yacht "is completely turned on its side now, and there's possibly a tow boat out there. There are also eight to nine boats around it as well."

Hardman credits Towboat U.S. and first responders with helping save the five people onboard. 

"They did have to abandon ship and they did go in the water off the stern of the boat," Hardmen said. "It could have been a lot worse had everybody not remained calm and spoke on the radio and were clear to make sure that everybody was accounted for. That was my number one priority: How many people are onboard, many people are in the water, who do we have, who do we not have…It was a joint effort."

Hardman also credited the boating community for rushing to assist.

"People were certainly waiting to help," Hardman said. "It's something you don't find everywhere these days. The boating community came together, no matter who it was to help."

One rescued person onboard complained of head soreness but declined to get checked out at the hospital. 

"We were taking on water"

The luxury yacht, also known as the Anastasia M, docks at the Annapolis Yacht Club and is known to many boaters in the area. It charters for $125,000 a week according to online listings.

Hardman spoke to the captain once he was rescued. 

"In the moment, I was like did you run aground? He was like, 'No, but I was headed this way. We were taking on water.' Boats of that size have alarms that tell you when there's water inside the boat. They were ear piercing to be able to hear those high-water alarms going off," Hardman said.

First responders placed barriers around the yacht to contain any possible fuel and told WJZ they are still working to get it out of the water. They do not believe any fuel spilled.

How did the boat capsize?

The cause of the sinking is unknown.

"The biggest thing now is just to get the vessel salvage so that we can hopefully get some clues as to what happened," said Cpl. Christopher Neville, with Maryland DNR police. "Once everybody was secured, it was just a matter of placing the safety protocols around the boat to keep out contaminants and trying to follow up with the captain and owner of the vessel."

Maryland DNR is the lead investigative agency.