(CNN) Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is suing the owners and operators of a duck boat that sank and killed 17 people, saying they had been aware of safety hazards but their "own profits" were their priority.

A Ride the Ducks Branson amphibious vessel capsized and sank July 19 on a lake near Branson, Missouri, as a severe thunderstorm whipped up intense winds and waves. The victims, aged 1 to 76, were not wearing life jackets , officials said.

In a lawsuit filed Friday under the state's consumer protection law, Hawley asked a Taney County circuit court judge to keep Ripley Entertainment and Branson Duck Vehicles LLC from operating the duck boats statewide.

Hawley claims Ripley Entertainment and Branson Duck Vehicles have "been on notice for decades of ongoing safety hazards that posed a present and deadly danger to every person who boarded a duck boat."

But they did not notify passengers of the dangers, the filing states, and falsely assured them "that safety was a top priority when in actuality it was their own profits."

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