NEWPORT, R.I. — The owner of a tall ship that crashed into four other boats in Rhode Island after a seafood festival is blaming the incident on a dock line that became entangled on its two propellers.
The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry crashed Sunday in Newport Harbor. No one was injured.
On Monday, the 200-foot (61-meter), three-mast ship was still blocking a channel into the Newport Yacht Club, preventing a cruise ship from disembarking passengers.
The ship is operated by a nonprofit, Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island, which runs educational programs. The group said Monday the engine lost power after its propellers became entangled but did not run aground. The Coast Guard had said shortly after the crash that the ship had grounded.
Jessica Wurzbacher, the group’s executive director, said the ship was leaving its berth at the seafood festival Sunday evening to cross the harbor to its permanent berth at Fort Adams State Park. The propellers then became entangled in one the ship’s own dock lines off the edge a dock, she said.
The crew dropped two anchors and tied the ship with lines to rope it into place, and while they were doing that, it struck four boats, Wurzbacher said.
She said she did not believe the hull was damaged. They were working Monday to untangle the propellers and check them for damage so they can move the ship. It was not immediately determined when the ship will be moved. It would be a joint decision of the crew, tugboat operator and U.S. Coast Guard, Wurzbacher said.
Alex Keller, yacht manager and captain of the 60-foot (18-meter) small yacht Jessica, said his ship was pinned against a dock and “used as a fender” by the tall ship. The smaller vessel was finally freed Monday morning, and needs to be checked at a ship yard to see whether there is structural damage, he said.
He said he was surprised the captain of the tall ship was trying to operate it in winds that were blowing at 25 knots, and said he would not have done it himself, unless it was an emergency.
“I wouldn’t have tried leaving, not with a ship like that, because of its size, the wind direction and speed,” he said.
Wurzbacher said it is a 500-ton vessel that regularly operates in windy conditions, and the captain determined it was safe.
“I don’t think the weather affected the incident,” she said.
The ship is named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a hero in the War of 1812, who is remembered for his command: “Don’t Give Up the Ship.”
It was built of steel at a cost of $16 million and in 2016 became the first ocean-going, full-rigged ship to be built in the United States in more than 100 years. Its main mast is 13 1/2 stories high. It is the largest civilian sail training vessel, accommodating 49 people overnight, and serves as Rhode Island’s official sailing education vessel.
