This reminds me of the duck tours of sf. I never took one but always saw these behind the ATT stadium!
I just looked up and looks like they closed permanently!
Other than the one that capsized in Missouri a few years back the Wikipedia page listing fatal accidents is surprisingly devoid of sinkings.
A safe experience. There is always risk involved but floating things are a solved problem.
> They're 75yo vehicles who's capacity and seaworthiness were defined relative to very different cultural norms regarding safety and a national emergency that necessitated acceptance of some additional risk.
Duck boats are antiquated military vehicles which are modified by their owners via cutting them in half and extending them. One owner did the work himself with little to no experience in that area with zero engineering oversight. Basically the guy winged it and people died.