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Coast Guard cutter collides with ferry

NEW SHOREHAM, R.I. — A Coast Guard cutter collided with a Block Island Ferry carrying 257 passengers in dense fog Wednesday, but no injuries were reported, authorities said.

The ferry was on an hour-long run to Block Island, and the cutter, a buoy tender named Morro Bay, was returning to its home base in New London, Conn., when the collision occurred about 12:15 p.m., the Coast Guard said.

Visibility at the time was about 200 yards, Petty Officer Etta Smith said.

The ferry sustained a 44-inch-long dent about 5 feet above the water line, and was escorted to Block Island by another Coast Guard ship, Smith said.

The Block Island Ferry called the collision a “minor incident” and said there were no injuries. The company had no further comment.

The fog was thick and the ferry’s horn was blowing every five minutes, said Brad Barco, 28, who was with his girlfriend on the top, outside level of the ferry.

The Coast Guard cutter appeared about 100 feet off the left of the ferry, and both ships slowed to try to avoid an impact, Barco said.

“I knew we weren’t going to be able to stop. I was like ‘We’re going to hit this thing,’” Barco said. “And then it got closer, closer, closer. They started honking their horns back and forth. And before we knew it, we made impact.”

Barco described the collision as a sudden stop and a jolt.

Some cars on the ferry shifted and had some minor damage, Barco said.

Two Coast Guard investigators were on the island to investigate the collision.

The owner of a restaurant and hotel complex at the ferry port said the ship was carrying 55 cases of clam chowder, 1,000 pounds of shellfish and 2,000 pounds of produce. Steven Filippi, owner of Ballard’s Inn, said the Coast Guard would not let him get the food off the ferry and, by the afternoon, some of it had gone bad.