Updated August 1
While the U.S. Coast Guard is not looking into how the Sankaty broke loose from a Woods Hole Terminal dock last week, the Steamship Authority (SSA) is still investigating the incident.
Officials at the time of the Thursday incident say there was only cosmetic damage caused to the exterior of the vessel when it ran into a nearby dock.
Steamship chief operating officer Mark Higgins provided a brief update to the Port Council during a Tuesday morning meeting, and said a “thorough investigation” was taking place, although he did not provide much detail.
“We’re fortunate there was no loss of life, injuries, damage to the vessel or property, or any environmental impact,” Higgins said, adding that the SSA was taking the incident seriously, and described the Sankaty’s getaway as “unacceptable.”
Port Council chair and Oak Bluffs representative Joe Sollito asked about the lines used to tie up the Sankaty. Higgins responded saying that several lines are used alongside parts of the terminal infrastructure. A similar amount was used to what’s usual when the incident took place.
“And it still broke away?” Sollito asked.
As Higgins was about to continue explaining, SSA general manager Robert Davis intervened and pointed out that the incident was still under investigation.
“At this point, it’d be premature to be making any determination on what caused this situation,” Davis said.
Sollito said “quite a few people” had been raising questions about the Sankaty on the Island, but did not press the issue further.
During the incident Thursday, SSA spokesperson Sean Driscoll said, the Sankaty drifted a short distance around 5 pm, before stopping at a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution dock.
The Sankaty was not in service, and tied up for the day, so there were no people on board. Initial reports indicate there was no damage to either the ferry or the institution’s dock. Nobody was injured during the incident.
“Thanks to the quick work of the Authority’s crews, the vessel has now been returned to its berth,” Driscoll wrote in a press release. “The vessel has been cleared to sail by the U.S. Coast Guard, and will remain on its normal schedule on Friday. An engineer will remain on board overnight to monitor the vessel.”
Driscoll told The Times the Sankaty was returned to its berth “within about an hour to 90 minutes.” The Sankaty’s sojourn at the institution’s dock did not result in canceled trips or “other operational changes.”
The incident is under review by the SSA. When reached for comment on Friday, Driscoll said there have been “no changes from our statement last night.” However, the Sankaty did experience “cosmetic damage,” according to Driscoll. The SSA plans to release more information as it becomes available.
The U.S. Coast Guard is not investigating the incident. A spokesperson said Monday that they deemed that no investigation was necessary because the boat was safe to sail after the incident, and no one was injured.
The Coast Guard spokesperson could not offer any information on why the boat drifted away from the terminal.
Meanwhile, the Governor did cancel trips on Thursday evening due to weather conditions, and some trips were diverted from the Oak Bluffs Terminal to the Vineyard Haven Terminal because of a power outage in Oak Bluffs.
