Post by Retrovision on May 7, 2006 8:15:18 GMT -8
17 Hurt When S.F. Ferry Hits Seawall
Minor injuries -- crash may be fog-related
(found here: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1995/10/28/MN56759.DTL )
A Red and White Fleet ferryboat bound in thick fog for San Francisco from Sausalito rammed into a seawall near Aquatic Park yesterday, causing mostly minor injuries to 17 passengers, authorities said.
About 60 passengers and a crew of four were aboard the MV Dolphin when the starboard side struck the seawall at about 12:20 p.m., causing a 3- to 4-foot long gash to the boat's pontoon but no structural damage to the boat, company spokesman Keith Thomas said.
Eight passengers were treated by fire and ambulance crews that were waiting when the boat docked 10 minutes later, and nine other passengers were taken to hospitals, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Jeff Murphy.
Most of the injuries were described as minor. A spokeswoman for San Francisco General Hospital said of the four passengers treated there, three complained of chest and rib injuries, and one suffered cuts to her legs.
Murphy said the Marine Safety Office was investigating the cause of the accident.
Thomas said the accident, which occurred near the end of the 20-minute trip from Sausalito, was the first in the fleet's history. ``At the time, it was very foggy,'' he said. ``Two crew members were on fog alert.''
He would not speculate on how fast the ferry was traveling, but said the boat's radar system was functioning. Preliminary investigations show that neither the captain nor crew members were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Twenty-eight of the passengers on board -- including six of those injured -- were traveling with a German tour group, Thomas said.
Another passenger, Norma Hale of Idaho, said she was sitting in the back of the boat when she heard a loud crash and cut her leg on a bench.
Her companion, Ed Gauer of Marin County, said that as the boat neared San Francisco, fog reduced visibility to about 50 feet. He said the pilot of the boat suddenly braked and everything ``turned topsy-turvy'' on the boat.
Hale said he went into the cabin area and found items from the snack bar, including miniature liquor bottles, strewn from one end to the other and people lying on the floor with their belongings all around them.
Thomas said most of the passengers were in the cabin area when the accident occurred and no one was in danger of falling overboard. He described the captain and other crew members as experienced professionals.
Red and White, which operates nine boats that carried 2.5 million passengers last year, announced last month it was being bought by the Blue and Gold Fleet, a smaller operation owned by San Francisco's tourist-oriented Pier 39. The price was said to be $25 million.
The sale of Red and White was part of privately held Crowley Maritime's new corporate strategy, prompted by the death of president and CEO Thomas B. Crowley Sr. last year. The Crowley family and its Oakland-based firm are credited with launching tour boat service on San Francisco Bay more than 80 years ago.
