At-large barge collides with Pier 66 on Elliott Bay in Seattle
The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating after a barge full of shipping containers drifted toward the Seattle waterfront in high winds this afternoon.
The barge drifted from Terminal 18 on Harbor Island toward Pier 66, home to Norwegian Cruise Line and Oceania Cruises.
Video on social media shows it hitting Pier 66. The Coast Guard reports it caused some damage.
Seattle Fire Department boat crews were carrying out an exercise when they saw the barge drifting in the south end of Elliott Bay.
Update: This water taxi captain intercepted a runaway barge. Here's his account.
Department spokesperson David Cuerpo said they called in land-based crews to evacuate the area if necessary.
"Fortunately, when they got close enough to the barge, they confirmed that other tugboats in the area were able to secure it near Pier 66 preventing it from colliding with any of the other piers or with any buildings," Cuerpo said.
Several piers along the waterfront were evacuated out of precaution. No injuries have been reported.
The Coast Guard says three tug boats were able to tow the barge to safety. There's no word yet on who is responsible for the incident.
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John O'Brien
Producer
John O’Brien is a KUOW newsroom producer. He works with the Morning Edition and All Things Considered teams to schedule, record, and edit interviews and stories on a variety of topics, from politics and public health to arts and culture. He learned to make radio in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation and is a former host of KUOW's Speakers Forum.
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Paige Browning
Newscaster
Paige hosts midday newscasts and monitors news of significance to the Puget Sound region. She hopped over Washington’s mountains to join KUOW, after hosting news and reporting at Spokane Public Radio since 2011. She began her start in radio while a journalism student at University of Montana, by sharing stories with KUFM. Paige was raised in the mountains and rivers around Spokane. In her spare time she cheers on the Mariners in the summer, and hopes for snow in the winter.
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