A commercial fishing boat got stuck in Boston Harbor on Friday, necessitating the rescue of three people and potentially releasing thousands of gallons of fuel into the harbor.
The 86-foot scallop fishing boat became stuck in shallow water and tilted over near Green Island with three people on board, Coast Guard officials said. The Coast Guard said it received a distress call about the accident at about 7:45 a.m.
The crew on board the boat, Eileen Rita, put on immersion suits when the vessel ran aground, the Coast Guard said. None of them were injured, and Boston Police safely removed them and transferred them to land, the Coast Guard said.
The cause of the accident was still under investigation, the Coast Guard said, adding that one factor was that the boat was traveling in shallow water at low tide.
The Coast Guard said it was still monitoring potential pollution from the accident on Friday, and a sheen of fuel was reported on the water. Photos released by the Coast Guard on Friday showed the fishing boat tilted on its side near Green Island with a trail of fuel nearby on the surface of the water.
The boat reported discharge of as much as 4,000 gallons of diesel and 50 gallons of lube oil, the Coast Guard said.
Green Island, near the location of the accident, is a small rocky island that is part of Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
