LONGVIEW — The Port of Kalama estimates more than $1 million in damage to boats and docks at its marina after a large vessel passed by early Monday morning at an “excessive speed.”
The marina is sheltered from the Columbia River by a breakwater jetty, but the passing vessel caused a swell and suction of the water which affected the marina between 4 and 5 a.m., said Liz Newman, marketing and communications manager.
Some boats in the marina were thrust up and stranded on top of docks.
When the port confirms the specific vessel responsible for the mayhem, it will file a claim against the operator and will assist marina clients in doing the same, Newman said.
Newman said the port reported the incident to the Coast Guard, which will decide what investigation to pursue. The port has also “engaged maritime professionals to investigate,” she said.
The port working with boat owners and insurance providers and to address the damage, Newman said. The port recently spent $4.5 million to upgrade and renovate the marina.
The marina has 222 slips and almost all of them are leased, Newman said.
Ian Harrison went to check on his boat at the marina Monday morning after seeing a post on Facebook about the damage. He said he thought a wave caused the damage because there was debris scattered through the marina and some boats had water in them.
The marina facility was damaged, and many of the ropes holding boats snapped, allowing boats to ram into each other and the docks, Harrison said. The rope holding his boat snapped and the boat ran into a neighboring vessel but wasn’t too badly damaged, he said.
“I’ve had my boat down there for probably seven years,” Harrison said. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this happen before.”
Denise Burck said she and her husband rushed down to the marina at about 7:30 a.m. after getting word of the damage, also from Facebook. She said it appeared that the end of their boat went up on the dock. Although it was scratched up, no holes were punched through.
The most heavy damage was in slips E and F, where Burck said the back of one boat was “smashed up.” The Burck’s boat is in slip G.
“We were fortunate our damage at this point appears to be superficial. … It could’ve been a lot worse,” she said. “There were several others with pretty significant damage done.”
