Urgent action was taken on Wednesday afternoon at the west end of the Ballard Bridge in Washington, as crews responded to a 73-foot fishing boat that had crashed into the pier and several other vessels. The United States Coast Guard reported that the boat had collided around 10:30 a.m., causing damage to other moored vessels.

At around 12:30 p.m., the Coast Guard announced that pollution teams were on the scene to reduce the crash's potential environmental impacts. According to the Coast Guard, five or six vessels were damaged during the crash, and no injuries were reported. Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier stated early Wednesday afternoon that a sailboat’s mast was broken, and preliminary reports point to a mechanical failure of the vessel that crashed.

According to the Seattle Times, Coast Guard investigators were talking to witnesses, and a crew was also on the scene at the CSR Marine boatyard to enforce a no-wake zone in the area east of the Ballard Locks and west of the bridge.

The 73-foot vessel was moved to Fishermen’s Terminal, and crews were working to clean up the area and assess the dock and other vessels for damage. The Coast Guard photos seem to show Kathleen K, a fishing trawler out of Seattle, WA, in the incident photos, but no source has confirmed that this was the vessel that crashed.

Fishing trawler Kathleen K. Photo by Charlie Allen on Marine Traffic

Information is limited currently, but the Seattle Police Department, Seattle Fire Department, and the United States Coast Guard are investigating the cause of the incident.

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Carli is a Content Specialist for National Fisherman. She comes from a fourth-generation fishing family off the coast of Maine. Her background consists of growing her own business within the marine community. She resides on one of the islands off the coast of Maine while also supporting the lobster community she grew up in.

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