The 200-foot-long SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, an educational tall ship, lost power in the Newport, Rhode Island, harbor and hit several boats before it ran aground. The ship, built to resemble wooden naval vessels of the early 1800s, has a steel hull and a 13-foot draft. It’s powered by two 385-hp Cat bio-diesels. Apparently some lines got tangled in the props in 30-knot winds, causing the captain to lose control of the vessel.
The three-masted ship had just left a seafood festival at Bowen’s Wharf in Newport, with a crew of 12, when it lost power and started to drift. The Coast Guard, alerted by a 911 dispatcher, sent two response boats from its station in Castle Hill nearby. There were no injuries and no issues of pollution, but the Coast Guard created a safety zone around the ship just off Newport’s Perrotti Park.
Read more: http://wboi.org/post/tall-ship-loses-power-hitting-boats-newport-harbor#stream/0
