Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Natural Hazards Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
3-Hour Whale Watching Cruise Strands Passengers Overnight
Topic Started: 29 Jul 2014, 11:56 PM (36 Views)
skibboy
Member Avatar

3-Hour Whale Watching Cruise Strands Passengers Overnight

BY REUTERS ON JULY 29, 2014

Posted Image
Photo courtesy Cetacea

By Elizabeth Barber

Posted ImageBOSTON, July 29 (Reuters) – A planned three-hour whale watching cruise off the Massachusetts coast turned into an all-night affair for 163 people aboard a boat that limped back into Boston Harbor on Tuesday morning.

The passengers and crew of the Boston Harbor Cruises boat Cetacea spent the night stranded off the coast of Nanhat, Massachusetts, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Boston, after the boat’s propeller snagged on a cable, said Sheila Green, a spokeswoman for the company that operated the tour.

The vessel docked in Boston at 7:30 a.m. EDT (1130 GMT) on Tuesday, after about 18 hours on the water, she said.

“Everybody got off without incident,” Green said.

The boat, carrying 157 passengers and a crew of six, had departed at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Monday from Boston Long Wharf, a popular pier where sailboats, ferries and motorboats launch out into Boston Harbor.

Two-and-a-half hours later, the boat’s propeller caught on a 7-inch (18 cm) thick cable, called a messenger line, in the water near Nahant, said Green.

Three Coast Guard crews, including medical personnel, responded to the incident at about 4:30 p.m. (2030 GMT), and the two Coast Guard ships remained at the stranded boat’s side through the night, according to a Coast Guard statement.

Scuba divers cut the entangled cable and freed the ship early Tuesday, and the boat returned to Boston Wharf on its own power, Green said.

All passengers of the ill-fated tour will be given a refund, $500 in cash, and a $100 gift card to Boston Harbor Cruises, Green said.

(Editing by Scott Malone)

© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. Posted Image

Source... Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
skibboy
Member Avatar

Stranded Whale Watching Tour Was Tangled in Offshore LNG Terminal

BY MIKE SCHULER ON JULY 31, 2014

Posted Image
An illustration of Excelerate’s Gateway terminal buoy and connections.

Some new information has revealed what caused a few hour whale watching cruise to become stranded overnight off Boston, Massachusetts earlier this week.

As gCaptain reported, the 83-foot Boston Harbor Cruises vessel Cetacea carrying 163 people became disabled about 13 miles east of Nahant on Monday at about 4:30 p.m. after the boat’s propeller became entangled.

Initial attempts by divers to clear the line from the propeller were unsuccessful and as night fell, a night operation to transfer the passengers was deemed unsafe, leaving the passengers and crew to stranded.

The Cetacea was eventually freed the following morning and limped back into Boston Harbor Tuesday morning, about 18 hours from its departure.

An update from the U.S. Coast Guard late Wednesday revealed that despite initial reports that a lobster pot line was caught in the propeller, further analysis revealed that it was actually buoy cable from the Northeast Gateway Deepwater Port that became entangled after the Cetacea entered a restricted area.

The Coast Guard said that the removal of the cable required additional dive resources and heavy duty equipment, which apparently took some time.

At about 5:20 a.m. Tuesday, divers aboard the vessels Bunker Hill and Scarlett Isabella freed the cable from the Cetacea’s propeller and the Coast Guard Cutter Tybee escorted the vessel to Boston.

All passengers safely disembarked the vessel near 8 a.m., at Long Warf.

Northeast Gateway is an offshore LNG receiving terminal owned by Excelerate Energy.

The design consists of a dual submerged turret-loading buoy system and a 16-mile pipeline connecting to the regional HubLine pipeline stretching across Massachusetts Bay.

Since opening in 2008 at the peak of natural gas prices, the Northeast Gateway terminal has seen a drastic decline in usage, according to a report from the Boston Globe.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Source... Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Enjoy forums? Start your own community for free.
« Previous Topic · Marine · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Skin by OverTheBelow