(Photo by Erika Schultz/Seattle Times via AP)
SEATTLE – Authorities say a ferry carrying cars and passengers crashed into a dock Thursday in Seattle, damaging the ship.
Washington State Ferries tweeted that no injuries were reported but passengers said several vehicles were damaged. The state agency said the Cathlamet ferry, which was traveling from Vashon Island to a dock in the vicinity of West Seattle, suffered “significant damage”.
Seattle Times report The upper left part of the ship was crumpled. The boat had docked and by 9 a.m. the last vehicles had been unloaded.
No information on how the crash happened has been released.
West Seattle resident Jack Walsh said he heard the impact around 8 a.m., describing it as a “combination of a small explosion and squeal” that lasted about five seconds.
Anne Gfeller Higuera was on the ferry. Her car was parked on the upper deck. When the ferry arrived at Fauntleroy, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. But then she told the paper she heard a “very loud noise” in front of her and it was getting worse and worse.
“There was a lot of concrete dust,” she said. When she looked up, she saw that the side of the boat had been crushed and some of the cars ahead were badly damaged.
Oskar Weiss, 17, of Vashon, told the Times he was on his way to work when “suddenly there was a loud bang.” He said his car was like sliding on the floor of a car. “I think we’ll continue on to the coast because it doesn’t look like we’ve slowed down. “
US Coast Guard officer Steve Strohmaier said officers from the Puget Sound area were deployed to the scene shortly after they were notified of the accident at around 8:20 a.m. They have begun to investigate the cause and see if it is a mechanical or human error.
Washington State Ferry operates passenger and car ferry services in the Puget Sound Islands and San Juan.
The ship involved in the crash, the Cathlamet, was 328 feet long and could carry 124 vehicles and 1,200 passengers.
