On December 8, 2017, the Yicel was sailing north along Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast when it began taking on water. Built in 1961, the 135-foot-long ship was headed for the port of Limón to pick up cargo, but a hull failure halted its progress. Water began to enter through the cracks and when the pumps failed, the crew could not remove the water. Rather than sink at sea, the captain made the decision to cross the reef and intentionally ground the vessel, and the Yicel ran up onto Playa Grande…
