A Coast Guard station in Oregon rescued dozens of passengers aboard a whale-watching boat that was disabled near Newport on Wednesday. The 62-foot boat, The Discovery, was in the coastal bar of Yaquina Bay when its captain said it started to produce โexcessive smokeโ and lost its propulsion just before 1 p.m.ย With 49 passengers on board, the captain sent out a โmaydayโ call for help. The Coast Guard sent out two lifeboats from its Yaquina Bay station and arrived on scene within eight minutes, according to officials. The lifeboats towed the Discovery eastbound to the pier, where they moored and met Newport firefighters around 1:30 p.m.
The passengers and crew were able to safely get off the boat with no medical emergencies. Investigators did not find a fire on the boat. โOur crews at Station Yaquina Bay had a great response to this call,โ Petty Officer First Class Nathan Kapsar said. โOur communications watchstander received the โmaydayโ call, immediately activated the SAR alarm, and we were on scene in under 10 minutes. We launched two boats due to the number of passengers on board and the severity of the incident. We were able to quickly get the Discovery back to her moorage where we were met by our local fire and EMS counterparts. This rescue highlights the importance of our interagency relationships. Station members train for incidents such as this, and weโre glad that we were able to get everyone back safely.โ
