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Ride-along on a 2003 ice cutting mission with Fire Boat John H. Glenn Jr.
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Security cameras from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Harbor Patrol caught the moment when a dinner cruise ship smashed into fire and police boats at a city dock.
The video obtained by STATter911.com shows the 160-foot Spirit of Washington first hitting an FBI boat and DC police boat. It then crashed into the 72-foot John H. Glenn Jr. The Spirit of Washington was then pushed a second time into the boats.
The Glenn, the city’s main fire boat, ended up with a 15-foot gash in its hull. The FBI boat was also seriously damaged.
There were four crew members on the Spirit of Washington and three firefighters were below deck on the John Glenn. The firefighters said it sounded like a bomb went off as the hull was breached.
On Monday, welders made temporary repairs to the Glenn. DC Fire & EMS Department spokesman Alan Etter says it is too early to determine a damage estimate or to tell how long the boat will be out of service. The Glenn is used as the main ice breaker for the upper Potomac River. There are no other DC fire or police boats with that capability. The Glenn’s 7000 gpm pump is much larger than pumps on other area fire boats.
The police department has two much smaller air boats that can operate on the ice.
The John H. Glenn Jr. cutting ice in 2003
Sal Naso, the vice president and general manager of Spirit Cruises, says the firm’s insurance company is working with the city. Naso says safety is of utmost importance. Naso and city officials confirm for STATter911.com there have been other incidents where Spirit boats have hit the city boats at the dock, but damage has always been minor.
Naso says the Spirit of Washington was being repositioned when a gust of wind helped push it into the police and fire boats. The US Coast Guard is investigating.
The John H. Glenn Jr. was built in 1962. DCFD bought it from FDNY for one dollar in 1978.
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Gust of wind? Nope, not buying that one. That boat was hooked up going astern when she hit the boats. When the wind gets ahold of you the only thing to do is get everything slowed down and land flat to minimize damage. Not ram the dock at full speed.
Yeah, not buying the wind either. I realize that the video is a moment in time, but it appears that the Spirit was moving pretty fast for just "wind".
Not a boat expert, but the video doesn't seem to show any prop wash coming from the stern which would be consistent with trying to go forward. I realize it is dangerous to jump to conclusions, but it sure looks like someone had it in reverse and panicked, then jammed the throttles, resulting in a pretty good "all astern" move.
Cut 'em some slack. Throttles jam, wind gusts and, above all, accidents occur. The space between Pier 4, where the Spirit boats berth, and the fire/police pier is pretty small for boats of that size. Damage was done and Spirit Cruises is doing their best to remedy the problem. I've done work with Spirit Cruises over the years, and they're a reputable company. -Drew Verdecchia