Miami unveils bench honoring victims of the 13 de Marzo tugboat disaster

A memorial bench was unveiled Saturday on the seawall at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami. The work honors the victims of the 13 de Marzo tugboat disaster and other Cubans who died at sea.

The ceremony included testimony, a memorial Mass and a performance by the Cuban Choir. Two bouquets containing 19 sunflowers each referred to the 37 people who died when the tugboat sank in Havana on July 13, 1994.

Omar Vento presented the historical account. Journalist Ninoska Pérez Castellón also spoke, and Radio Martí journalist José Luis Ramos read the victims’ names and ages. Father Ángel Andrés González blessed the bench.