Thanks to mysterious circumstances, two boats that were docked in a marina in Fells Point this morning are seaworthy no more.
Baltimore police spokesman Det. Jeremy Silbert said marine units responded to a marina off of Aliceanna and Chester streets just before 9 a.m. to find two vessels submerged. Livestreamed videos from the department’s Twitter and Facebook accounts showed one boat with all but its top underwater, and another listing slightly. Speaking on camera, Sgt. Kurt Roepcke said two boats had sunk and a third was being stabilized.
City fire department units also responded to the marina. Silbert said around 1:30 p.m. that they were still working together to secure the vessels.
Luckily, no one was reported injured, though Roepke did note that an “elderly man” lived on one of the boats, which indicates he may have been displaced.
The third boat that Roepke mentioned hadn’t sunk had about 700 gallons of fuel on it, he said. That one needed to be stabilized to prevent it from leaking all of that gas into the harbor.
What remains unclear is how the boats began to sink in the first place. Silbert said police would determine the cause after the boats had been secured.
The scene is tragic, particularly to any nautical enthusiasts familiar with the attachment that proud owners feel toward their vessels. At least they didn’t catch fire.
