SOUTH HAVEN -- An explosion aboard a small cabin cruiser near South Haven Monday afternoon has put one person in the hospital and sparked an investigation. Officials are blaming inadequate ventilation of the engine compartment.
They had just refueled at the South Haven Yacht Club around 11AM yesterday, and were headed across the Black River in their 24 foot Bayliner when the panel over the engine compartment blew off and a column of flames shot into the air, followed by thick black smoke. Keith Neinhuis was at the wheel of the Carol Anne, which is owned by a Portage Firm. His wife suffered 2nd degree burns in the explosion and is recovering at the Bronson Hospital Burn unit. Passenger James Seltenreich of California was blown off the boat, but otherwise uninjured. His wife, and the Neinhuis’s immediately joined him in the water.
The boat was towed out of the water and will be inspected.
