Huntington Beach Woman Dies After Ship Sinks in Caribbean

A Huntington Beach woman died after being rescued near where her ship sank off the coast of Aruba, an island off the northwest tip of Venezuela, an American official confirmed Friday.

James Flynn, U.S. consul to the Netherlands Antilles, an island chain that includes Aruba, said that Nancy Barwick died of a heart attack Wednesday shortly after being brought to a public clinic on the island.

Flynn said that Barwick’s ship, a small cargo vessel called the Vera, sank off Aruba’s east coast Wednesday and that Barwick and several others on board were forced to swim for several hours after their life raft overturned.

“She made it to shore, but it (the ordeal) apparently was too much for her,” Flynn said.

Flynn said he could not confirm a wire service report about the incident that listed Barwick’s age as 51 and reported that her 41-year-old husband, Kenneth, also was on board.