Steamship vessel strikes, sinks Nantucket concrete dolphin 

Steamship Authority officials say that a ferry that was sailing on the Nantucket route collided with a concrete dolphin on Saturday, badly damaging the piling. 

According to a Sunday statement from the ferry line, the Eagle, a passenger ferry that has sailed on the Nantucket route since 1987, hit the “outermost dolphin” on its portside as it made its 5:30 pm departure from the island on Saturday toward Hyannis. The ferry line reports no one was injured, and the Eagle was cleared to travel that day.

“The Authority is conducting a thorough review of the incident, and it will release further information and service updates as [they become] available,” the statement reads in part. 

The Nantucket Current was the first to report the accident, posting a video from a passenger that shows the concrete, rectangular cube atop the metal pilings tipping over, snapping off, and submerging into the water with a large splash. 

Sean Driscoll, Steamship Authority communications director, told The Times on Monday there were no injuries, and “nothing similar has occurred to my knowledge” on the Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket routes before. 

The ferry line stated on Sunday that a “thorough inspection” of the vessel was conducted once it arrived in Hyannis, and no damage was discovered. The Eagle was allowed to sail again with permission from the U.S. Coast Guard. 

According to the statement, the ferry line is arranging for divers to inspect the pipe pilings on the dolphin for possible damage “under the water line of the structure” and to find the concrete piece. Other dolphins at the Nantucket terminal will also be inspected, and Steamship has placed hazard markers to warn mariners. 

The north slip will be closed for “an undetermined period” while the “scope of the needed repairs is determined,” and the ferry line said travelers on the Nantucket route aboard the Iyanough, the Steamship’s fast ferry, should expect delays.