“I guess we got much more than we bargained for,” said Nilesh Mathura, a passenger visiting Boston from Toronto.
The 157 passengers and six crew members aboard Boston Harbor Cruises whale watching boat the Cetacea definitely got more of a ride than the three hour tour they paid for Monday afternoon.
“It was on the way back, probably 10 minutes and then we actually saw the yellow line and then we heard the noise and then the boat stopped,” said Clara Peng, a passenger visiting Boston from Toronto.
“Initial report was a lobster pot, but it ended up being more like a seven-inch cable that was wrapped around the propeller,” said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Karen Kutkiewicz.
Officials say professional divers with heavy duty equipment were called to the vessel, stuck about 15 miles off the coast of Salem, Massachusetts, but it took until early Tuesday morning before they were finally able to untangle the twisted cable and free the propeller.
That meant passengers who were supposed to return to dock at 4:30 p.m. Monday actually arrived at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
“They did a good job, they really did. They got us food, water, drinks,” Arthur Evans of Milford, CT who was on his first whale watching trip with his family. “It was just long and boring, but besides that, we were safe.”
Another passenger said, “They brought another boat along after quite a long while, but it was too dangerous so no passengers tried to get on board.”
“There were some people sleeping on the floor because there was not enough space to sleep for everybody but the crew on board was really nice they tried to do whatever they could,” said Ayca Hiz, who is visiting Boston from Turkey.
As the Cetacea’s propeller is repaired, BHC has cancelled its noon tours through Wednesday.
The 1:30 p.m. tour left and returned Tuesday without incident, and some passengers told NECN they really weren’t nervous being out on the boat.
“We figured it wouldn’t happen twice in a row,” said Terry Kilcoyne of Harvard.
“We were supposed to be on yesterday’s so I was thankful we waited a day,” said Tiffany Rydwelski of Buchanon, Michigan.
“I figured it was just sort of a fluke thing, we really didn’t have any concerns,” said Jennifer Sheehan, who's visiting from Baltimore.
Boston Harbor Cruises confirms the vessel veered into a "restricted navigation area" but how and why that happened is part of a U.S. Coast Guard investigation into the incident.
No injuries were reported.
Passengers were compensated with ticket reimbursements, $100 gift cards and $500 cash for their troubles.
BHC says the Cetacea is expected to be back in service by Thursday at the latest.Alysha Palumbo, Boston, Massachusetts, whale watching, Boston Harbor Crusies, Nilesh Mathura, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Clara Peng, Karen Kutkiewicz, U.S. Coast Guard, USCG, Coast Guard, Arthur Evans, Milford, Connecticut, Ayca Hiz, Turkey, Cetacea, Terry Kilcoyne, Harvard, Tiffany Rydwelski, Buchanon, Michigan, Jennifer Sheehan, Baltimore, Maryland
