A 65-foot ferry boat may have experienced a mechanical problem when it hit a private yacht as it attempted to dock Thursday morning near 87 Commercial Wharf in Boston, officials said. One injury was reported.
“I was right there, and I didn’t think it was going to come,’’ said a woman who was on the yacht and who gave only her first name, Mary.
“The guy, he was told to stop, but he didn’t listen,” said the woman. “It was really scary, that was crazy.”
Missy Walker, spokeswoman for Quincy-based Boston’s Best Cruises, said the ferry may have had a hydraulic malfunction when the accident occurred at 9 a.m. Thursday. No passengers were on board.
The captain was piloting the ferry, the Island Adventure, and had the vessel in reverse, said Walker. The ferry was not in service at the time.
The private yacht, the Water Ranch, was already docked. The owner could not be reached for comment.
The incident was a “fender bender,” Walker said. The company has possession of the boat and is conducting its own inspection to find out what type of mechanical error, if any, occurred.
She said the last time the ferry was in service was Wednesday evening, when it was used for inner-harbor tours.
The crash apparently jostled an unidentified woman who was standing on the dock, causing her to fall and leaving her with a minor knee injury, the Coast Guard said. She was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment, said Jetta Disco, a spokeswoman for the Boston office of the US Coast Guard.
“Both vessels received extensive damage to their hulls, but are not taking on water,” Disco said. She added that there was no pollution or gas leakage from the incident and that the captain, as is routine, submitted to a mandatory drug and alcohol test after the accident.
The US Coast Guard and State, Environmental, and Boston police responded to the scene and are jointly investigating the incident.
At midmorning, about six members of the Coast Guard boarded both ships and evaluated the point of contact, at the end of both vessels.
Boston Harbor has been teeming with activity in recent days, with events surrounding the July 4 celebration and the Tall Ships display. There were no reports of other crashes in the harbor, Disco said.
Moments after the fireworks display on the Esplanade ended, dozens of vessels headed out of the Charles River through the narrow passage between Charlestown and the wharves of the North End waterfront. Sailboats, cabin cruisers, small motor boats, and larger luxury vessels moved toward Boston Harbor, monitored by police boats that sped through the fray, warning boaters to turn on running lights and to keep a safe distance from each other.