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Credential of captain of Portland Spirit suspended for close call

Willamette rowers had to alter course

By Jim Ryan, The Oregonian
Published: December 13, 2017, 9:21pm

A judge has suspended the credential of the Portland Spirit captain who forced rowers to evade the vessel’s path during a Willamette River race this fall, the U.S. Coast Guard announced Wednesday.

Capt. Lowell Gillespie Jr. had already been suspended by his employer for the incident. He was previously disciplined for running into other boats during a huge traffic jam on the Willamette that forced the shutdown of the Red Bull Flugtag competition in 2015, as well.

In the recent case, a Coast Guard administrative law judge ordered Gillespie’s merchant mariner credential be suspended for three months, according to the Coast Guard. Gillespie admitted his negligence, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

Even before the judge’s decision, the company suspended Gillespie for 90 days.

Gillespie maintained the vessel’s course and speed during the encounter, Coast Guard marine investigator Travis Nolen previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive, and the rowers changed their course to avoid a collision.

Gillespie could have waited for the rowers to pass, crossed behind them or, if they weren’t so close, continued in front of them, Nolen said.

Company President Dan Yates previously said Gillespie “made a very poor decision” in the Oct. 29 encounter, which happened as Gillespie was returning with an empty ship from the Salmon Springs dock at downtown Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park to its eastside dock at Caruthers Landing. Yates declined to comment Wednesday.

The rowers — part of the Portland Fall Classic race — were on the river past the event’s permitted time, according to Nolen.

The event organizer accepted a letter of warning from the Coast Guard for failing to comply with their marine event permit by going longer than their allotted time frame, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

The suspension comes after a Coast Guard investigation. The agency filed a complaint to the administrative law judge, who ruled based on information in the complaint.

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